Best PlacesWaterproof, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waterproof, 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.
Waterproof ranks 50,328th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waterproof
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.
Waterproof's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waterproof ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap childcare$625 a month, better than 76% of towns
Where Waterproof ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waterproof
A household needs to earn about $13,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waterproof home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $24,464, 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 Waterproof's effective rate of 0.27%, 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 Waterproof
Waterproof'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 Waterproof.
Who works in Waterproof, and how
Work in Waterproof centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Waterproof
Waterproof has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Waterproof and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waterproof, month by month
Waterproof 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 Waterproof
The nearest airport, Monroe Regional, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waterproof
Schools across Waterproof average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tensas Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Ferriday High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Tensas High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waterproof school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waterproof 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 Waterproof against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waterproof
Is Waterproof a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waterproof ranks 50,328th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waterproof expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $53,063. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $24,464 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Waterproof safe?
Waterproof is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,711 per resident a year.
Compare Waterproof with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waterproof. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waterproof 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.
Waterproof detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waterproof: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waterproof: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waterproof: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waterproof: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waterproof 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.