Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Louisiana with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Louisiana that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Louisiana at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Addis.
2.8% population growth · 2.0% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-2.0% population growth · -6.4% home price growth
Located in
Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.3% population growth · 1.5% home price growth
Located in
St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
St. Martinville is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, sixteen miles south of Breaux Bridge, eighteen miles southeast of Lafayette, and nine miles north of New Iberia. The population was 6,114 at the 2010 census, down from 6,989 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.0% population growth · -2.6% home price growth
Located in
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
Patterson is a small city in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,112 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.1% population growth · 1.2% home price growth
Located in
Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Walker is a city in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,138 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.0% population growth · -7.4% home price growth
Located in
Iberville Parish, Louisiana
Plaquemine is a city in and the parish seat of Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,064 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-2.5% population growth · -8.1% home price growth
Located in
Madison Parish, Louisiana
Tallulah is a small city in and the parish seat of Madison Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 population was 7,335, a decrease of 1,854, or 20.2 percent, from the 9,189 tabulation at the 2000 census. The city is nearly 77 percent African American. Tallulah is the principal city of the Tallulah Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Madison Parish. The Madison Parish Sheriff’s office operates the Steve Hoyle Rehabilitation Center in Tallulah.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.5% population growth · -4.6% home price growth
Located in
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
Franklin is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,660 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.7% population growth · -12.6% home price growth
Located in
Evangeline Parish, Louisiana
Ville Platte is a city in, and the parish seat of, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,430 at the 2010 census, down from 8,145 in 2000. The city’s name is of French origin, roughly translating to “flat city”, in reference to its relatively flat topography in contrast to the more hilly terrain north of the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.4% population growth · 1.1% home price growth
Located in
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Ponchatoula is a small city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,559 at the 2010 census. Ponchatoula is known as the “Strawberry Capital of the World”. It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Louisiana’s statewide median.
Louisiana statewide median: $211,635
On the map
Where Louisiana’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Louisiana for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Louisiana. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Louisiana with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Louisiana, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 473 cities and towns in Louisiana, only 58 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 58 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Addis is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Pelican State.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In Louisiana
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Addis | 7,252 | $244,631 | 2.8% | 2.0% |
| 3 | Leesville | 5,495 | $153,498 | -2.0% | -6.4% |
| 4 | St. Martinville | 5,297 | $150,321 | -1.3% | 1.5% |
| 5 | Patterson | 5,744 | $136,405 | -1.0% | -2.6% |
| 6 | Walker | 6,390 | $253,184 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| 7 | Plaquemine | 6,075 | $159,906 | -1.0% | -7.4% |
| 8 | Tallulah | 5,969 | $77,518 | -2.5% | -8.1% |
| 9 | Franklin | 6,461 | $89,151 | -1.5% | -4.6% |
| 10 | Ville Platte | 6,253 | $98,290 | -0.7% | -12.6% |
| 11 | Ponchatoula | 7,808 | $247,934 | -0.4% | 1.1% |
| 12 | St. Gabriel | 6,639 | $263,882 | 1.1% | -2.1% |
| 13 | Oakdale | 6,546 | $84,731 | -1.0% | -13.9% |
| 14 | Rayne | 7,105 | $173,349 | -0.6% | -0.4% |
| 15 | Breaux Bridge | 7,501 | $182,775 | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| 16 | Westwego | 8,335 | $179,563 | -0.6% | 2.2% |
| 17 | Donaldsonville | 6,831 | $164,852 | 0.6% | 1.9% |
| 18 | Scott | 8,609 | $218,990 | 3.1% | 4.7% |
| 19 | Harahan | 8,904 | $315,751 | -0.4% | -0.9% |
| 20 | Carencro | 11,619 | $218,909 | 6.8% | 1.2% |
| 21 | Eunice | 9,239 | $109,304 | -0.2% | -6.4% |
| 22 | Jennings | 9,553 | $134,099 | -1.3% | 1.8% |
| 23 | Denham Springs | 9,323 | $255,931 | -0.4% | 1.2% |
| 24 | Bastrop | 9,232 | $89,353 | -1.9% | 9.0% |
| 25 | Covington | 11,658 | $317,481 | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| 26 | Gonzales | 13,108 | $288,155 | 2.8% | -0.1% |
| 27 | DeRidder | 9,763 | $153,081 | -0.5% | -5.4% |
| 28 | Morgan City | 11,064 | $122,451 | -1.3% | -2.4% |
| 29 | Bogalusa | 10,468 | $85,577 | -0.7% | -3.9% |
| 30 | Minden | 11,455 | $140,974 | -1.3% | -2.4% |
| 31 | Abbeville | 11,003 | $138,932 | -0.7% | -2.0% |
| 32 | Broussard | 14,322 | $282,910 | 3.9% | 2.6% |
| 33 | West Monroe | 12,729 | $194,939 | -0.8% | 1.1% |
| 34 | Mandeville | 12,946 | $355,608 | 0.1% | -0.1% |
| 35 | Crowley | 11,422 | $123,650 | -1.1% | 2.5% |
| 36 | Baker | 12,253 | $180,739 | -0.6% | -0.5% |
| 37 | Youngsville | 17,427 | $276,689 | 4.6% | 1.0% |
| 38 | Pineville | 14,160 | $193,577 | -0.8% | 0.5% |
| 39 | Thibodaux | 15,732 | $226,921 | -0.4% | 0.3% |
| 40 | Opelousas | 15,495 | $123,099 | -1.1% | -1.1% |
| 41 | Zachary | 19,952 | $267,773 | 1.6% | 0.1% |
| 42 | Natchitoches | 17,577 | $181,713 | -0.6% | -2.0% |
| 43 | Gretna | 17,389 | $238,821 | -0.5% | 0.4% |
| 44 | Sulphur | 20,775 | $195,533 | -1.1% | -0.7% |
| 45 | Hammond | 21,539 | $222,619 | 3.6% | 1.1% |
| 46 | Ruston | 22,284 | $225,352 | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 47 | Slidell | 28,561 | $218,143 | -0.4% | -0.9% |
| 48 | New Iberia | 27,571 | $145,864 | -1.3% | 3.7% |
| 49 | Central | 29,783 | $282,212 | 0.6% | 3.6% |
| 50 | Houma | 32,392 | $184,223 | -1.1% | 1.3% |
| 51 | Alexandria | 44,060 | $144,328 | -1.1% | 3.5% |
| 52 | Monroe | 47,004 | $149,717 | -0.5% | 1.3% |
| 53 | Kenner | 64,904 | $268,195 | -0.3% | 2.9% |
| 54 | Bossier City | 62,901 | $228,172 | 0.1% | 2.0% |
| 55 | Lake Charles | 81,143 | $199,012 | -0.7% | -1.8% |
| 56 | Lafayette | 121,715 | $224,254 | 0.1% | 1.8% |
| 57 | Shreveport | 180,982 | $135,092 | -1.4% | 0.9% |
| 58 | Baton Rouge | 222,771 | $228,415 | -0.4% | 0.4% |
| 59 | New Orleans | 371,853 | $242,493 | -1.1% | 1.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 58 Louisiana cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Louisiana for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Louisiana. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 473 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Louisiana are Addis, Leesville, St. Martinville, Patterson, Walker, Plaquemine, Tallulah, Franklin, Ville Platte, and Ponchatoula.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
