Before you decide to relocate to Louisiana, it’s important to research the exact cost of living around the state. And that’s what we’re going to help you do.
These are the places in Louisiana that cost a pretty penny — the most expensive cities in the state.
We used Saturday Night Science to compare the 2020-2024 American Community Survey on cost of living for the 59 places in Louisiana with more than 5,000 people.
After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Louisiana for 2026.
$94,405 median income · $355,608 median home · #1 home prices in Louisiana
Located in
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
Mandeville is a small city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 11,560 at the 2010 census. Mandeville is located on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, south of Interstate 12. It is across the lake from the city of New Orleans and its southshore suburbs. It is part of the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,631 median income · $242,493 median home · #15 home prices in Louisiana
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
$84,480 median income · $267,773 median home · #9 home prices in Louisiana
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
$79,516 median income · $315,751 median home · #3 home prices in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Harahan is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 9,277 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$89,554 median income · $282,212 median home · #6 home prices in Louisiana
Located in
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Central is the thirteenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the second largest city in East Baton Rouge Parish. Central became the state’s newest city in April 2005. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Central was 26,864 as of the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$105,876 median income · $276,689 median home · #7 home prices in Louisiana
Located in
Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$108,041 median income · $244,631 median home · #14 home prices in Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$116,179 median income · $282,910 median home · #5 home prices in Louisiana
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
$75,851 median income · $317,481 median home · #2 home prices in Louisiana
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
$64,020 median income · $268,195 median home · #8 home prices in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Kenner is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. State of Louisiana. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, United States, Louisiana’s second-most populous parish, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census.
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
Louisiana statewide median: $60,756
On the map
Mapping the most expensive places in Louisiana
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Pelican State For 2026
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford a city in Louisiana are how much money you make and how much you have to spend to live there.
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing, it’s actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Overall Cost Of Living Index
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Louisiana to figure out which is the most expensive.
You are left with a “Cost of Living Index” by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index to rank all of the 59 places in Louisiana that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Louisiana according to the data is Mandeville. We updated this article for 2026. This article is our eleventh time ranking the most expensive places to live in Louisiana.
The full plate
Most Expensive Cities In Louisiana
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Cost Of Living | Population | Median Income | Average Home Price | Home/Income Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mandeville | 114 | 12,946 | $94,405 | $355,608 | 3.8x |
| 2 | New Orleans | 108 | 371,853 | $56,631 | $242,493 | 4.3x |
| 3 | Zachary | 108 | 19,952 | $84,480 | $267,773 | 3.2x |
| 4 | Harahan | 106 | 8,904 | $79,516 | $315,751 | 4.0x |
| 5 | Central | 105 | 29,783 | $89,554 | $282,212 | 3.2x |
| 6 | Youngsville | 105 | 17,427 | $105,876 | $276,689 | 2.6x |
| 7 | Addis | 105 | 7,252 | $108,041 | $244,631 | 2.3x |
| 8 | Broussard | 104 | 14,322 | $116,179 | $282,910 | 2.4x |
| 9 | Covington | 103 | 11,658 | $75,851 | $317,481 | 4.2x |
| 10 | Kenner | 101 | 64,904 | $64,020 | $268,195 | 4.2x |
| 11 | Slidell | 101 | 28,561 | $70,497 | $218,143 | 3.1x |
| 12 | Baton Rouge | 100 | 222,771 | $49,994 | $228,415 | 4.6x |
| 13 | Lafayette | 100 | 121,715 | $61,915 | $224,254 | 3.6x |
| 14 | Gonzales | 99 | 13,108 | $75,451 | $288,155 | 3.8x |
| 15 | Carencro | 99 | 11,619 | $63,401 | $218,909 | 3.5x |
| 16 | Walker | 99 | 6,390 | $80,707 | $253,184 | 3.1x |
| 17 | Denham Springs | 98 | 9,323 | $71,569 | $255,931 | 3.6x |
| 18 | Hammond | 96 | 21,539 | $48,166 | $222,619 | 4.6x |
| 19 | Lake Charles | 95 | 81,143 | $59,235 | $199,012 | 3.4x |
| 20 | Bossier City | 95 | 62,901 | $55,819 | $228,172 | 4.1x |
| 21 | Alexandria | 95 | 44,060 | $47,113 | $144,328 | 3.1x |
| 22 | Gretna | 95 | 17,389 | $43,110 | $238,821 | 5.5x |
| 23 | Ponchatoula | 95 | 7,808 | $51,161 | $247,934 | 4.8x |
| 24 | St. Gabriel | 95 | 6,639 | $74,688 | $263,882 | 3.5x |
| 25 | Plaquemine | 95 | 6,075 | $69,366 | $159,906 | 2.3x |
| 26 | Shreveport | 94 | 180,982 | $48,699 | $135,092 | 2.8x |
| 27 | Ruston | 94 | 22,284 | $31,120 | $225,352 | 7.2x |
| 28 | Grambling | 94 | 5,287 | $151,062 | ||
| 29 | Sulphur | 93 | 20,775 | $61,760 | $195,533 | 3.2x |
| 30 | Natchitoches | 93 | 17,577 | $37,133 | $181,713 | 4.9x |
| 31 | Thibodaux | 93 | 15,732 | $52,072 | $226,921 | 4.4x |
| 32 | Pineville | 93 | 14,160 | $49,774 | $193,577 | 3.9x |
| 33 | DeRidder | 93 | 9,763 | $59,801 | $153,081 | 2.6x |
| 34 | Breaux Bridge | 93 | 7,501 | $47,806 | $182,775 | 3.8x |
| 35 | Houma | 92 | 32,392 | $58,194 | $184,223 | 3.2x |
| 36 | Crowley | 92 | 11,422 | $28,642 | $123,650 | 4.3x |
| 37 | Scott | 92 | 8,609 | $56,299 | $218,990 | 3.9x |
| 38 | Westwego | 92 | 8,335 | $46,261 | $179,563 | 3.9x |
| 39 | Donaldsonville | 92 | 6,831 | $23,618 | $164,852 | 7.0x |
| 40 | Baker | 91 | 12,253 | $54,750 | $180,739 | 3.3x |
| 41 | Morgan City | 91 | 11,064 | $56,474 | $122,451 | 2.2x |
| 42 | Monroe | 90 | 47,004 | $40,505 | $149,717 | 3.7x |
| 43 | New Iberia | 90 | 27,571 | $47,087 | $145,864 | 3.1x |
| 44 | West Monroe | 90 | 12,729 | $49,386 | $194,939 | 3.9x |
| 45 | Rayne | 90 | 7,105 | $42,151 | $173,349 | 4.1x |
| 46 | Minden | 89 | 11,455 | $34,294 | $140,974 | 4.1x |
| 47 | St. Martinville | 89 | 5,297 | $36,130 | $150,321 | 4.2x |
| 48 | Eunice | 88 | 9,239 | $35,436 | $109,304 | 3.1x |
| 49 | Bogalusa | 87 | 10,468 | $30,749 | $85,577 | 2.8x |
| 50 | Patterson | 87 | 5,744 | $49,886 | $136,405 | 2.7x |
| 51 | Opelousas | 86 | 15,495 | $32,964 | $123,099 | 3.7x |
| 52 | Leesville | 86 | 5,495 | $37,500 | $153,498 | 4.1x |
| 53 | Oakdale | 84 | 6,546 | $42,540 | $84,731 | 2.0x |
| 54 | Abbeville | 83 | 11,003 | $33,015 | $138,932 | 4.2x |
| 55 | Jennings | 83 | 9,553 | $48,558 | $134,099 | 2.8x |
| 56 | Franklin | 83 | 6,461 | $39,518 | $89,151 | 2.3x |
| 57 | Bastrop | 82 | 9,232 | $32,605 | $89,353 | 2.7x |
| 58 | Tallulah | 82 | 5,969 | $33,419 | $77,518 | 2.3x |
| 59 | Ville Platte | 79 | 6,253 | $28,361 | $98,290 | 3.5x |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research. 59 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Louisiana For 2026
Well, there you have it, the places in Louisiana that have the highest cost of living, with Mandeville ranking as the most expensive city in the Pelican State.
The most expensive cities in Louisiana are Mandeville, New Orleans, Zachary, Harahan, Central, Youngsville, Addis, Broussard, Covington, and Kenner.
