Best PlacesMid City South, Baton Rouge, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mid City South, Baton Rouge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mid City South, Baton Rouge ranks 2,913th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mid City South, Baton Rouge
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Mid City South, Baton Rouge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mid City South, Baton Rouge ranks high
- Cheap childcare$676 a month, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.2 minutes each way, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where Mid City South, Baton Rouge ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mid City South, Baton Rouge
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mid City South, Baton Rouge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $104,820; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Mid City South, Baton Rouge's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mid City South, Baton Rouge
Mid City South, Baton Rouge runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mid City South, Baton Rouge.
Who works in Mid City South, Baton Rouge, and how
Work in Mid City South, Baton Rouge centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mid City South, Baton Rouge
Mid City South, Baton Rouge has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 79% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mid City South, Baton Rouge and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mid City South, Baton Rouge, month by month
Mid City South, Baton Rouge sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 80° | 69° | 59° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 84° | 71° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Mid City South, Baton Rouge
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mid City South, Baton Rouge
Schools across Mid City South, Baton Rouge average a C, better than 37% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Westdale Heights Academic Magnet SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- B. R. Foreign Language Acad. Immersion MagnetA · 67% proficient
- Baton Rouge Center For Visual And Performing ArtsA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glasgow Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Westdale Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Baton Rouge Magnet High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Liberty High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Tara High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mid City South, Baton Rouge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mid City South, Baton Rouge measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Mid City South, Baton Rouge against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mid City South, Baton Rouge
Is Mid City South, Baton Rouge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mid City South, Baton Rouge ranks 2,913th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, health care access, and short commutes, and lowest on state infrastructure and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mid City South, Baton Rouge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $421,163. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $104,820 median income, cost of living beats 88% of neighborhoods.
Is Mid City South, Baton Rouge safe?
Mid City South, Baton Rouge is safer than 41% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $658 per resident a year.
Compare Mid City South, Baton Rouge with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mid City South, Baton Rouge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mid City South, Baton Rouge represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Mid City South, Baton Rouge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mid City South, Baton Rouge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mid City South, Baton Rouge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mid City South, Baton Rouge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mid City South, Baton Rouge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mid City South, Baton Rouge detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.