Is being in an area of Louisiana that’s growing quickly a good thing or a bad thing?
Depends on who you ask.
Some want bigger, more exciting cities like New Orleans and Baton Rouge, while others want peace and quiet like in Grambling and St. Martinville, thank you very much.
But today, we’re going to put opinions aside and look at the cold, hard facts — since 2010, which cities in Louisiana have grown the fastest.
After getting knee-deep in the Census’s American Community Survey using Saturday Night Science, we emerged with this set of cities in the Pelican State that have people climbing over each other to get in.
137.6% growth since 2010 · 10,091 net new residents
Located in
Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
110.1% growth since 2010 · 3,801 net new residents
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
84.5% growth since 2010 · 6,561 net new residents
Located in
St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
Broussard is a small city in Lafayette parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 6,754 from the 2005 Census Est.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
58.0% growth since 2010 · 4,264 net new residents
Located in
Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Carencro is a small city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Lafayette. The population was 7,526 at the 2010 census, up from 6,120 at the 2000 census. Its name comes from the Cajun French word for buzzard: the spot was one where large flocks of buzzards roosted in the bald cypress trees. The name means “carrion crow.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
39.7% growth since 2010 · 5,668 net new residents
Located in
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Zachary is a city in the East Baton Rouge parish of Louisiana in the United States. It lies 16 miles north of the city of Baton Rouge, and had a population of 14,960 at the 2010 census, up from 11,275 in 2000.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
36.6% growth since 2010 · 3,512 net new residents
Located in
Ascension Parish, Louisiana
Gonzales is a small city in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 9,781. Known as the “Jambalaya Capital of the World”, it is famous for its annual Jambalaya Festival, which was first held in 1968. Stephen “Steve” F. Juneau came up with the idea for the Jambalaya Festival and served as the first president of the Jambalaya Festival Association President.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
30.4% growth since 2010 · 2,717 net new residents
Located in
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Covington is a city in, and the parish seat of, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2010 census. It is located at a fork of the Bogue Falaya and the Tchefuncte River.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
25.9% growth since 2010 · 76,568 net new residents
Located in
Orleans Parish, Louisiana
New Orleans ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
21.5% growth since 2010 · 1,383 net new residents
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
13.9% growth since 2010 · 9,919 net new residents
Located in
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is a major industrial, cultural, and educational center in the southwest region of the state.
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.
On the map
Where Louisiana’s growth is happening
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Fastest Growing Cities In the Pelican State for 2026
To figure out which cities are growing the most, we used Saturday Night Science to look at the growth rates for cities since the beginning of the decade, according to the American Community Survey put out by the census every year. Specifically:
- Current Population
- Population in 2010
- Growth rate from 2010 to Current (the latest available data, which came out in Dec 2024)
We ranked all 59 Louisiana cities with a population over 5,000 people from highest growth rate to lowest.
The city with the highest growth rate during this time was crowned the fastest-growing city in the Pelican State.
And for those of you who are a little rusty with their statistics, you can calculate the growth rate by the following formula: [Current Population – Population 2010] / [Population 2010].
The data has been updated for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the fastest growing cities in Louisiana.
The full plate
Fastest Growing Places In Louisiana For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Population 2010 | Growth | Absolute Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youngsville | 17,427 | 7,336 | 137.6% | 10,091 |
| 2 | Addis | 7,252 | 3,451 | 110.1% | 3,801 |
| 3 | Broussard | 14,322 | 7,761 | 84.5% | 6,561 |
| 4 | Carencro | 11,619 | 7,355 | 58.0% | 4,264 |
| 5 | Zachary | 19,952 | 14,284 | 39.7% | 5,668 |
| 6 | Gonzales | 13,108 | 9,596 | 36.6% | 3,512 |
| 7 | Covington | 11,658 | 8,941 | 30.4% | 2,717 |
| 8 | New Orleans | 371,853 | 295,285 | 25.9% | 76,568 |
| 9 | Ponchatoula | 7,808 | 6,425 | 21.5% | 1,383 |
| 10 | Lake Charles | 81,143 | 71,224 | 13.9% | 9,919 |
| 11 | Mandeville | 12,946 | 11,483 | 12.7% | 1,463 |
| 12 | Central | 29,783 | 26,887 | 10.8% | 2,896 |
| 13 | Hammond | 21,539 | 19,740 | 9.1% | 1,799 |
| 14 | Thibodaux | 15,732 | 14,513 | 8.4% | 1,219 |
| 15 | Grambling | 5,287 | 4,911 | 7.7% | 376 |
| 16 | Walker | 6,390 | 5,990 | 6.7% | 400 |
| 17 | Slidell | 28,561 | 27,067 | 5.5% | 1,494 |
| 18 | Bossier City | 62,901 | 60,402 | 4.1% | 2,499 |
| 19 | Ruston | 22,284 | 21,578 | 3.3% | 706 |
| 20 | Sulphur | 20,775 | 20,218 | 2.8% | 557 |
| 21 | Lafayette | 121,715 | 118,803 | 2.5% | 2,912 |
| 22 | Scott | 8,609 | 8,431 | 2.1% | 178 |
| 23 | St. Gabriel | 6,639 | 6,508 | 2.0% | 131 |
| 24 | Gretna | 17,389 | 17,628 | -1.4% | -239 |
| 25 | Pineville | 14,160 | 14,462 | -2.1% | -302 |
| 26 | Kenner | 64,904 | 66,642 | -2.6% | -1,738 |
| 27 | West Monroe | 12,729 | 13,088 | -2.7% | -359 |
| 28 | Baton Rouge | 222,771 | 229,158 | -2.8% | -6,387 |
| 29 | Natchitoches | 17,577 | 18,083 | -2.8% | -506 |
| 30 | Patterson | 5,744 | 5,926 | -3.1% | -182 |
| 31 | Houma | 32,392 | 33,631 | -3.7% | -1,239 |
| 32 | Harahan | 8,904 | 9,275 | -4.0% | -371 |
| 33 | Monroe | 47,004 | 49,272 | -4.6% | -2,268 |
| 34 | Westwego | 8,335 | 8,821 | -5.5% | -486 |
| 35 | DeRidder | 9,763 | 10,379 | -5.9% | -616 |
| 36 | Breaux Bridge | 7,501 | 8,064 | -7.0% | -563 |
| 37 | Alexandria | 44,060 | 47,568 | -7.4% | -3,508 |
| 38 | Jennings | 9,553 | 10,462 | -8.7% | -909 |
| 39 | Denham Springs | 9,323 | 10,222 | -8.8% | -899 |
| 40 | Shreveport | 180,982 | 198,477 | -8.8% | -17,495 |
| 41 | Donaldsonville | 6,831 | 7,513 | -9.1% | -682 |
| 42 | Abbeville | 11,003 | 12,227 | -10.0% | -1,224 |
| 43 | Eunice | 9,239 | 10,351 | -10.7% | -1,112 |
| 44 | Morgan City | 11,064 | 12,434 | -11.0% | -1,370 |
| 45 | New Iberia | 27,571 | 31,029 | -11.1% | -3,458 |
| 46 | Baker | 12,253 | 13,844 | -11.5% | -1,591 |
| 47 | Rayne | 7,105 | 8,046 | -11.7% | -941 |
| 48 | Minden | 11,455 | 13,112 | -12.6% | -1,657 |
| 49 | Opelousas | 15,495 | 17,778 | -12.8% | -2,283 |
| 50 | Leesville | 5,495 | 6,420 | -14.4% | -925 |
| 51 | Plaquemine | 6,075 | 7,123 | -14.7% | -1,048 |
| 52 | Crowley | 11,422 | 13,422 | -14.9% | -2,000 |
| 53 | Bogalusa | 10,468 | 12,417 | -15.7% | -1,949 |
| 54 | St. Martinville | 5,297 | 6,294 | -15.8% | -997 |
| 55 | Franklin | 6,461 | 7,780 | -17.0% | -1,319 |
| 56 | Oakdale | 6,546 | 7,890 | -17.0% | -1,344 |
| 57 | Ville Platte | 6,253 | 7,668 | -18.5% | -1,415 |
| 58 | Bastrop | 9,232 | 11,607 | -20.5% | -2,375 |
| 59 | Tallulah | 5,969 | 7,587 | -21.3% | -1,618 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS, 2010-current. 59 Louisiana cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: These Places Grew Up So Fast In Louisiana, You Know?
So there you have it, the fastest growing cities in Louisiana are led by Youngsville which has been growing at a blistering pace this decade relative to other cities and towns around the state.
The fastest-growing cities in Louisiana are Youngsville, Addis, Broussard, Carencro, Zachary, Gonzales, Covington, New Orleans, Ponchatoula, and Lake Charles.
It’ll be interesting to see if these places can keep growing at the same rate over the next couple of years. We’ll be here to let you know!
