Best PlacesOberlin, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oberlin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oberlin ranks 47,377th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oberlin
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.
Oberlin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oberlin ranks high
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap childcare$612 a month, better than 78% of towns
Where Oberlin ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$35,587 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oberlin
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oberlin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $35,587, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Oberlin's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oberlin
Oberlin runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oberlin.
Who works in Oberlin, and how
Work in Oberlin centers on transportation & warehousing and health care & social. 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 Oberlin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oberlin.
What the weather is like in Oberlin, month by month
Oberlin sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 55° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 68° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Oberlin
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 156 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oberlin
Schools across Oberlin average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kinder Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Oberlin Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Oakdale Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kinder Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Oakdale Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Kinder High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Oberlin High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Oakdale High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oberlin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oberlin 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 Oberlin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oberlin
Is Oberlin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oberlin ranks 47,377th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, a stable housing market, and low property taxes, 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 Oberlin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,860. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $35,587 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Oberlin safe?
Oberlin is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $636 per resident a year.
Compare Oberlin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oberlin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oberlin 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.
Oberlin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oberlin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oberlin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oberlin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oberlin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oberlin 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.