Best PlacesWelsh, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Welsh, 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.
Welsh ranks 39,432nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Welsh
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.
Welsh's strengths and weaknesses
Where Welsh ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
- BikingBetter than 79% of towns
Where Welsh ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Welsh
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Welsh home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,189, 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 Welsh's effective rate of 0.28%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Welsh
Welsh'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 Welsh.
Who works in Welsh, and how
Work in Welsh centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Welsh
Welsh has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Welsh and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Welsh, month by month
Welsh sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| April | 78° | 68° | 60° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Welsh
The nearest airport, Lake Charles Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is George Bush Intcntl/Houston, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Welsh
Schools across Welsh average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Arthur Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Welsh Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Elton Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kinder Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Welsh-roanoke Junior High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Arthur High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Jennings High SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Welsh High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Welsh school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Welsh 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 Welsh against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Welsh
Is Welsh a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Welsh ranks 39,432nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and walkability, and lowest on state infrastructure and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Welsh expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,373. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $76,189 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Welsh safe?
Welsh is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $395 per resident a year.
Compare Welsh with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Welsh. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Welsh 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.
Welsh detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Welsh: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Welsh: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Welsh: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Welsh: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Welsh 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.