Best PlacesVidalia, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vidalia, 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.
Vidalia ranks 44,316th 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 Vidalia
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.
Vidalia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vidalia ranks high
- Short commute16.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of towns
Where Vidalia ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vidalia
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vidalia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,362, 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 Vidalia's effective rate of 0.35%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vidalia
Vidalia's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Vidalia.
Who works in Vidalia, and how
Work in Vidalia centers on health care & social and construction. 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 5%
Life in Vidalia
Vidalia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Vidalia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Vidalia, month by month
Vidalia sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 82° | 68° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Vidalia
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 130 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vidalia
Schools across Vidalia average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Vidalia Upper Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Marksville Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Tensas Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vidalia Junior High SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Ferriday Junior High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Natchez Early College@co-linB · 47% proficient
- Avoyelles High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Vidalia High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vidalia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vidalia 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 Vidalia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vidalia
Is Vidalia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vidalia ranks 44,316th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, low property taxes, and cell coverage, 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 Vidalia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $120,940. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $50,362 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Vidalia safe?
Vidalia is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $797 per resident a year.
Compare Vidalia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vidalia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vidalia 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.
Vidalia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vidalia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vidalia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vidalia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vidalia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vidalia 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.