What’s the best part of New Orleans? It could be where everyone knows their neighbor. Or it could be where home prices are the highest, meaning it’s where everyone wants to live.
Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in New Orleans are the best based on Saturday Night Science.
Whether you live in the sticks or in an apartment building downtown, you want a little pocket that you can call home. And each neighborhood offers different perks and benefits.
Smaller neighborhoods usually have obvious benefits — less crime, a slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. But not all New Orleans neighborhoods are created equal. Some are better than others. But which ones?
If you’re thinking of moving to Louisiana and New Orleans is on the top of your list, check out the best neighborhoods for 2026.
$105,976 median income · $704,812 median home value
$100,032 median income · $473,300 median home value
$79,701 median income · $400,350 median home value
$115,696 median income · $454,136 median home value
$92,052 median income · $400,100 median home value
$77,204 median income · $457,200 median home value
$82,700 median income · $423,243 median home value
$81,285 median income · $621,167 median home value
$120,649 median income · $552,200 median home value
$69,364 median income · $381,325 median home value
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Louisiana’s statewide median.
Louisiana statewide median: $60,756
Louisiana statewide median: $211,635
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the best New Orleans, LA neighborhoods in 2026
To rank the best neighborhoods in New Orleans, we had to determine what criteria define “best” and then apply Saturday Night Science to it.
Using FBI crime, Census, and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:
- High incomes
- Low unemployment rates
- Low crime
- High home prices
- High population densities (A proxy for things to do)
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 68 in each category, where 1 was the best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a best neighborhood index.
And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest best neighborhood index, the “Best City Neighborhood In New Orleans.” We’re lookin’ at you, Audubon.
Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the best places New Orleans, Louisiana has to offer. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from best to worst.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best neighborhoods to live in New Orleans.
The full plate
Table: Best New Orleans neighborhoods for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Audubon | 16,004 | $704,812 | $105,976 |
| 2 | Uptown | 6,297 | $473,300 | $100,032 |
| 3 | Black Pearl | 1,922 | $400,350 | $79,701 |
| 4 | Lakeview | 8,762 | $454,136 | $115,696 |
| 5 | East Riverside | 3,235 | $400,100 | $92,052 |
| 6 | East Carollton | 4,185 | $457,200 | $77,204 |
| 7 | Marlyville-Fontainebleau | 5,994 | $423,243 | $82,700 |
| 8 | Touro | 2,502 | $621,167 | $81,285 |
| 9 | Lake Shore-Lake Vista | 2,423 | $552,200 | $120,649 |
| 10 | West End | 3,281 | $381,325 | $69,364 |
| 11 | Freret | 1,969 | $348,433 | $59,532 |
| 12 | Irish Channel | 3,425 | $462,429 | $80,785 |
| 13 | French Quarter | 3,181 | $510,186 | $62,944 |
| 14 | Central Business District | 2,976 | $453,250 | $60,982 |
| 15 | Garden District | 3,212 | $480,823 | $63,148 |
| 16 | Navarre | 2,263 | $345,300 | $68,593 |
| 17 | Algeirs Point | 2,574 | $347,367 | $65,622 |
| 18 | West Riverside | 4,946 | $472,333 | $79,431 |
| 19 | Lower Garden District | 5,112 | $492,475 | $83,093 |
| 20 | Old Aurora | 15,830 | $203,820 | $62,243 |
| 21 | Marigny | 3,751 | $421,317 | $61,848 |
| 22 | Lake Terrace And Oaks | 1,497 | $445,500 | $118,576 |
| 23 | Mid-City | 14,578 | $307,875 | $55,538 |
| 24 | Fillmore | 6,495 | $257,150 | $62,644 |
| 25 | Fairgrounds | 5,134 | $275,160 | $57,860 |
| 26 | Broadmoor | 6,970 | $321,314 | $59,622 |
| 27 | Leonidas | 7,179 | $273,944 | $46,720 |
| 28 | Milan | 5,911 | $378,867 | $52,421 |
| 29 | City Park | 2,927 | $376,922 | $78,471 |
| 30 | Milneburg | 4,930 | $210,940 | $42,978 |
| 31 | Bayou Saint John | 3,880 | $254,380 | $40,102 |
| 32 | Tall Timbers-Brechtel | 13,387 | $200,300 | $58,312 |
| 33 | Gentilly Terrace | 10,066 | $187,290 | $58,412 |
| 34 | Gentilly Woods | 4,116 | $151,900 | $37,011 |
| 35 | Lake Catherine | 677 | $226,800 | $61,250 |
| 36 | Us Naval Base | 2,016 | $223,267 | $45,752 |
| 37 | Little Woods | 33,284 | $166,974 | $36,047 |
| 38 | Dixon | 2,179 | $168,200 | $21,085 |
| 39 | Seventh Ward | 11,595 | $193,861 | $30,859 |
| 40 | Read Blvd East | 8,886 | $196,500 | $58,658 |
| 41 | Saint Anthony | 4,618 | $151,180 | $36,796 |
| 42 | Holly Grove | 5,564 | $139,633 | $28,373 |
| 43 | Central City | 14,110 | $218,212 | $32,318 |
| 44 | Read Blvd West | 4,730 | $145,300 | $31,998 |
| 45 | Tulane-Gravier | 3,775 | $281,767 | $22,516 |
| 46 | Village De L’est | 8,709 | $132,600 | $42,923 |
| 47 | Dillard | 4,850 | $168,820 | $23,199 |
| 48 | New Aurora-English Turn | 3,529 | $119,700 | $36,480 |
| 49 | Whitney | 1,878 | $162,400 | $41,928 |
| 50 | Plum Orchard | 5,813 | $136,560 | $25,744 |
| 51 | Saint Thomas | 1,974 | $115,700 | $24,507 |
| 52 | Treme’ Lafitte | 4,617 | $324,617 | $29,668 |
| 53 | Bywater | 3,922 | $328,362 | $54,952 |
| 54 | Gert Town | 5,187 | $125,100 | $25,182 |
| 55 | Saint Bernard Area | 2,472 | $106,033 | $21,394 |
| 56 | McDonogh | 2,103 | $137,200 | $31,159 |
| 57 | Holy Cross | 2,862 | $171,350 | $39,040 |
| 58 | Pontchartrain Park | 1,790 | $155,200 | $35,575 |
| 59 | Saint Claude | 6,562 | $156,929 | $26,052 |
| 60 | Saint Roch | 6,398 | $141,788 | $23,281 |
| 61 | Behrman | 7,838 | $143,986 | $28,384 |
| 62 | Lower 9th Ward | 4,351 | $168,833 | $28,535 |
| 63 | Florida | 1,522 | $96,900 | $20,465 |
| 64 | West Lake Forest | 5,650 | $138,417 | $24,114 |
| 65 | Fischer Dev | 1,037 | $152,400 | $16,999 |
| 66 | Pines Village | 3,835 | $160,175 | $22,383 |
| 67 | Viavant-Venetian Isles | 677 | $77,700 | $11,128 |
| 68 | Desire | 2,667 | $93,600 | $14,134 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 68 New Orleans neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: Putting a bow on our analysis of the best neighborhoods in New Orleans
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in New Orleans where crime is low and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.
The best neighborhoods in New Orleans are Audubon, Uptown, Black Pearl, Lakeview, East Riverside, East Carollton, Marlyville-Fontainebleau, Touro, Lake Shore-Lake Vista, and West End.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in New Orleans aren’t all good. Desire takes the title of the worst neighborhood to live in New Orleans.
We ranked the neighborhoods from best to worst in the chart below. Not sold on Louisiana? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Neighborhoods In New Orleans FAQs
What is the best neighborhood in New Orleans?
Audubon is the best neighborhood in New Orleans for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Uptown and Black Pearl are next.
What are the best neighborhoods in New Orleans?
The best neighborhoods in New Orleans are Audubon, Uptown, Black Pearl, Lakeview, East Riverside, East Carollton, Marlyville-Fontainebleau, Touro, Lake Shore-Lake Vista, and West End. We ranked all 68 neighborhoods in the city.
How expensive is Audubon?
The median household income in Audubon is $105,976 and the median home costs $704,812. The best blocks in New Orleans rarely come at a discount.
How do you rank New Orleans neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on income, home values, population density, unemployment, and crime, using Census tract data. The neighborhood with the best combined score, Audubon, takes the top spot.
Which New Orleans neighborhood ranked last?
Desire came in last of the 68 neighborhoods we scored. Every city has a bottom of the table; in New Orleans the numbers put it there.
