Best PlacesSulphur, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sulphur, 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.
Sulphur ranks 1,904th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sulphur
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.
Sulphur's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sulphur ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Cheap childcare$710 a month, better than 88% of cities
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 85% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 104 pleasant days a year, better than 62% of cities
Where Sulphur ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sulphur
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sulphur home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,651, 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 Sulphur's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sulphur
Sulphur runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sulphur.
Who works in Sulphur, and how
Work in Sulphur centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Sulphur
Sulphur has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sulphur and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sulphur, month by month
Sulphur sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 54° | 45° |
| April | 80° | 70° | 62° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 83° | 72° | 63° |
Flying in and out of Sulphur
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sulphur
Schools across Sulphur average a C+, better than 40% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Vincent Settlement Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Frasch Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Cypress Cove Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moss Bluff Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- W. W. Lewis Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Maplewood Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Sam Houston High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Sulphur High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Westlake High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sulphur school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sulphur 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 Sulphur against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Sulphur suits
Common questions about living in Sulphur
Is Sulphur a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sulphur ranks 1,904th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on state infrastructure and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sulphur expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,188. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $71,651 median income, cost of living beats 46% of cities.
Is Sulphur safe?
Sulphur is safer than 47% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $404 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sulphur?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 65 with lows near 45. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of cities.
Is Sulphur good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $710 a month.
Compare Sulphur with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sulphur. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sulphur 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.
Sulphur detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sulphur: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sulphur: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sulphur: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sulphur: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sulphur 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.