Best PlacesWilson, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wilson, 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.
Wilson ranks 49,637th 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 Wilson
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.
Wilson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilson ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$585 a month, better than 80% of towns
Where Wilson ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$42,952 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wilson
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,952, 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 Wilson's effective rate of 0.15%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wilson
Wilson's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wilson.
Who works in Wilson, and how
Work in Wilson centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Wilson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wilson.
What the weather is like in Wilson, month by month
Wilson sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 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 | 90° | 80° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Wilson
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilson
Schools across Wilson average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Finch ElementaryD− · 13% proficient
- Jackson Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
- Clinton Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Feliciana Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- William Winans Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
- East Feliciana Middle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- West Feliciana High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- East Feliciana High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilson 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 Wilson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wilson
Is Wilson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilson ranks 49,637th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on car insurance costs and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,885. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $42,952 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Wilson safe?
Wilson is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $879 per resident a year.
Compare Wilson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilson 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.
Wilson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilson 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.