Best PlacesVernon Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Vernon Parish, 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.
Vernon Parish ranks 2,420th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vernon Parish
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.
The best areas in Vernon Parish
The parts of Vernon Parish, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Rosepine
Crime runs lower, more residents vote, and it is quieter.
Pitkin
Incomes run higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Leesville & Fort Polk South
Commutes are shorter and fewer homes sit empty.
Anacoco
Tree cover is thicker, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Vernon Parish run from about the 3rd to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Vernon Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vernon Parish ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- QuietBetter than 69% of counties
- Cheap childcare$639 a month, better than 68% of counties
Where Vernon Parish ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 5% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Vernon Parish
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vernon Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,532, 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 Vernon Parish's effective rate of 0.25%, 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 Vernon Parish
Vernon Parish runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vernon Parish.
Who works in Vernon Parish, and how
Work in Vernon Parish centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Vernon Parish
Vernon Parish has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Vernon Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Vernon Parish growing, and who is moving in?
Vernon Parish has lost about 13% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Beauregard Parish, LA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Vernon Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Vernon Parish, month by month
Vernon Parish sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Vernon Parish
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vernon Parish
Schools across Vernon Parish average a B−, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Anacoco Elementary SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Parkway Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Pickering Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vernon Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Leesville Junior High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Rosepine High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Anacoco High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Leesville High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vernon Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vernon Parish 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 Vernon Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Vernon Parish suits
Common questions about living in Vernon Parish
Is Vernon Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vernon Parish ranks 2,420th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a stable housing market, 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 Vernon Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $167,318. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $62,532 median income, cost of living beats 37% of counties.
Is Vernon Parish safe?
Vernon Parish is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $544 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vernon Parish?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 41. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Vernon Parish?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Rosepine, Pitkin, and Leesville & Fort Polk South. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Vernon Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vernon Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vernon Parish 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.
Vernon Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vernon Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vernon Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vernon Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vernon Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vernon Parish 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.