Best PlacesWashington, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Washington, 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.
Washington ranks 47,337th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Washington
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.
Washington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Washington ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap childcare$637 a month, better than 75% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 69% of towns
- BikingBetter than 62% of towns
Where Washington ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Washington
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,944, 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 Washington's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Washington
Washington'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 Washington.
Who works in Washington, and how
Work in Washington centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Washington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Washington.
What the weather is like in Washington, month by month
Washington sees roughly 82 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 Washington
The nearest airport, Lafayette Regional/Paul Fournet Field, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washington
Schools across Washington average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Palmetto Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Port Barre Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- James Stephens Montessori SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Port Barre Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Plaisance Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Magnet Academy For Cultural ArtsB+ · 55% proficient
- Ville Platte High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Northwest High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington 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 Washington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Washington
Is Washington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington ranks 47,337th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, walkability, and affordable childcare, and lowest on car insurance costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,117. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $56,944 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Washington safe?
Washington is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $803 per resident a year.
Compare Washington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington 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.
Washington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington 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.