Best PlacesOpelousas, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Opelousas, 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.
Opelousas ranks 2,093rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Opelousas
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.
Opelousas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Opelousas ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Cheap childcare$637 a month, better than 95% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 60% of cities
- QuietBetter than 58% of cities
Where Opelousas ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of cities
- Household income$47,575 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 3% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Opelousas
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Opelousas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,575, 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 Opelousas' effective rate of 0.23%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Opelousas
Opelousas's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Opelousas.
Who works in Opelousas, and how
Work in Opelousas centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Opelousas
Opelousas has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Opelousas and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Opelousas, month by month
Opelousas sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Opelousas
The nearest airport, Lafayette Regional/Paul Fournet Field, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Opelousas
Schools across Opelousas average a D+, better than 10% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Port Barre Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Leonville Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Teche Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Port Barre Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Arnaudville Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Plaisance Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Magnet Academy For Cultural ArtsB+ · 55% proficient
- Cecilia High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Beau Chene High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Opelousas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Opelousas 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 Opelousas against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Opelousas suits
Common questions about living in Opelousas
Is Opelousas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Opelousas ranks 2,093rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on health outcomes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Opelousas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,107. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $47,575 median income, cost of living beats 5% of cities.
Is Opelousas safe?
Opelousas is safer than 1% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $961 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Opelousas?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 62 with lows near 42. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of cities.
Is Opelousas good for families?
Schools beat 10% of cities, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $637 a month.
Compare Opelousas with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Opelousas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Opelousas 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.
Opelousas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Opelousas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Opelousas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Opelousas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Opelousas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Opelousas 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.