Best PlacesWest Baton Rouge Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in West Baton Rouge Parish, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Baton Rouge Parish ranks 1,381st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Baton Rouge 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.
West Baton Rouge Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Baton Rouge Parish ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$91,424 median, better than 88% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
Where West Baton Rouge Parish ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in West Baton Rouge Parish
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Baton Rouge Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,424, 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 West Baton Rouge Parish's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Baton Rouge Parish
West Baton Rouge Parish runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Baton Rouge Parish.
Who works in West Baton Rouge Parish, and how
Work in West Baton Rouge Parish centers on manufacturing and health care & social. 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 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in West Baton Rouge Parish
West Baton Rouge Parish has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of West Baton Rouge Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is West Baton Rouge Parish growing, and who is moving in?
West Baton Rouge Parish has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Baton Rouge, LA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving West Baton Rouge Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in West Baton Rouge Parish, month by month
West Baton Rouge Parish sees roughly 106 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 80° | 69° | 59° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 84° | 71° | 61° |
Flying in and out of West Baton Rouge Parish
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Baton Rouge Parish
Schools across West Baton Rouge Parish average a C−, better than 23% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brusly Upper Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Lukeville Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Caneview K-8 SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brusly Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Port Allen Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Zachary High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Brusly High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Plaquemine Senior High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Baton Rouge Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Baton Rouge 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 West Baton Rouge Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who West Baton Rouge Parish suits
Families
Schools land around the 23rd percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in West Baton Rouge Parish
Is West Baton Rouge Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Baton Rouge Parish ranks 1,381st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, 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 West Baton Rouge Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,964. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $91,424 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is West Baton Rouge Parish safe?
Yes, West Baton Rouge Parish is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West Baton Rouge Parish?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 43. That works out to about 106 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of counties.
Is West Baton Rouge Parish good for families?
Schools beat 23% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $676 a month.
Compare West Baton Rouge Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Baton Rouge Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Baton Rouge 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.
West Baton Rouge Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Baton Rouge Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Baton Rouge Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Baton Rouge Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Baton Rouge Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Baton Rouge 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.