Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine Louisiana’s best places to live.
It isn’t a knock on other cities in Louisiana, but statistically, the results show which cities in the Bayou State have bragging rights for 2026. As we’ve demonstrated with the safest places, Louisiana is undoubtedly home to some gems.
It’s got more culture in its pinky than America has in its hand, making it the envy of the South. But to determine the best places to live in Louisiana, we looked at data from the FBI on crime, the Census for things like education, and Zillow for home prices.
So, grab some crawfish and a beignet from Cafe Du Monde, and learn about Louisiana’s best places.
$79,516 median income · $315,751 median home · #1 best place in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
King Louis XIV would be super proud of Louisiana’s #1 best place to live in the state, Harahan, because this city is pretty great.
While Harahan is the middle point between Baton Rouge and Gulfport, Mississippi, there’s nothing middle of the road about this small town of 8,904 residents 25 minutes directly west of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. The crime rate in Harahan is below the state average–it is one of the top safest places in the Bayou State.
Harahan’s cost of living numbers aren’t too shabby, either. The median home price here is the 3rd highest in the state at $315,751, but people here make good money–$79,516/year and the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the state at 3.8%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$94,405 median income · $355,608 median home · #2 best place in Louisiana
Located in
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
What started as a vacation destination in the early 19th Century for Louisiana’s middle and upper class to escape the heat of the bayou, is now the 2nd best place to live in the state.
So, if you guessed that the cost of living here is slightly higher than the rest of the state, you guessed right. The median home price in Mandeville is the highest in the state at $355,608 and everyday living expenses like transportation and utilities are also slightly higher. Mandeville is after all one of the richest in the state so we were not surprised to find that the 12,946 residents who live here earn a median income of $94,405/year. But, since most of these are second homes, we were surprised to find that the job market in Mandeville was holding strong and that the unemployment rate here is the 8th lowest in the state at 2.9%. (Someone has to cater to Louisiana’s wealthy, right?)
The crime rate in Mandeville was definitely lower than the rest of the state (there were only 178 crimes recorded last year)–wealthy people don’t tend to scrimp on security and they don’t scrimp on entertainment, either. In fact, Mandeville scored an 8.5/10 for amenities on our SnackAbility scale; and the word on the street, you won’t be considered a Mandeville local until you’ve spent a weekend exploring Fontainebleau State Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$108,041 median income · $244,631 median home · #3 best place in Louisiana
Located along the shore of the Mississippi River, Addis, Louisiana, might seem like a rustic Southern town. Actually, it provides a charming mixture of old and new, offering residents excellent access to the region’s most important population centers. A scenic spot with a great location, Addis ranks as the number 3 best place to live in the state.
The state capital of Baton Rouge is just 15 minutes to the north, while an hour-and-half drive down I-10 will get you to New Orleans. This makes Addis an excellent home town for commuters. More than that, the community also represents an outstanding place to raise a family, with good schools and friendly neighborhoods.
Given these advantages, it’s no wonder 28.93% of households in town have kids. The economy in Addis is strong as well. The median income in the area comes in at $108,041, while the median home value hovers at $244,631. The unemployment rate sits at 1.8%.
Originally founded as a key railroad intersection (initially going by the name Baton Rouge Junction), Addis offers some old-town charm. Check out the town museum, located inside a historic former bank and post office.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$116,179 median income · $282,910 median home · #4 best place in Louisiana
Located in
St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
Whether you’re a fan of good ‘ol fashioned southern hospitality, sweet southern charm, or a low cost of living, Louisiana’s 4th best place to live, Broussard, has all of this and then some.
Don’t let the fact that there are only 14,322 residents in this small town in Cajun Country make you think that there’s nothing to do here. It’s actually quite the opposite. Matter of fact, one of the main attractions here is the Zoo of Acadiana and there are a lot of historical hotspots like the Cypress Island Preserve and Acadian Village that will keep you happily entertained on a daily basis.
However, with the 13th lowest unemployment rate in the state at 3.6%, you are going to find yourself pretty busy working to pay the 5th best median home price in the state. And, you’re going to want a job as the Broussard does not need anyone else adding to their current poverty rate at 13.4%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$89,554 median income · $282,212 median home · #5 best place in Louisiana
Located in
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
The 5th best place to live in Louisiana wasn’t even incorporated until 2005, but it’s already punched its way into the top tier. Sitting just northeast of Baton Rouge, Central has built a reputation on low crime, strong incomes, and schools that parents actually get excited about.
The numbers back it up. Central’s poverty rate ranks 2nd lowest in Louisiana, unemployment clocks in at just 2.2%, and the median household income hits $89,554. The Central Community School System, which operates independently from the larger East Baton Rouge Parish schools, is a genuine selling point for families looking to put down roots here.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,760 median income · $195,533 median home · #6 best place in Louisiana
Located in
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Just above the heel of the infamous Louisiana boot is the 6th best place to live in the state, Sulphur. But, that’s not dirty boot your smelling, this city used to be the home to working sulfur mines during the early 20th Century (hence the name). Sulphur’s new focus, however, has shifted to keeping its 20,775 residents happy, healthy, and thriving.
Located 10 miles directly west of Lake Charles along “the I-10,” Sulphur excelled in a majority of our SnackAbility indicators: jobs, affordability, amenities, and commute times. In terms of jobs, Sulphur has the 18th lowest unemployment rate on our list at 4.3%. Some of the highest paying jobs here are in healthcare and engineering–the state is after all one of the leading states for oil and gasoline production. And, folks, Sulphur is super affordable–you can get a home for the median home price of $195,533. So, we were not surprised to find that Sulphur is one of the most affordable places in the state. The city’s cost of living expenses like groceries, healthcare, and utilities also managed to come in under the state average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$84,480 median income · $267,773 median home · #7 best place in Louisiana
Located in
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
There are two types of people who live in the 7th best place to live in Louisiana, Zachary: either the veteran holdouts who have lived here forever and are watching their home values skyrocket as the median home price here is the 9th highest or those who make well over the city’s median income of $84,480 and can afford to buy a home at $267,773. Zachary is after all one of the richest places in the states.
Either way, if you choose to buy your forever home in Zachary, you will be set. Your kids will get to go to great schools, there are a ton of job opportunities here (the unemployment rate is the 3lowest in the state at 6.9% and the city’s cost of living is manageable if you work hard like the rest of Zachary’s 19,952 residents.
Zachary did score rather low on our SnackAbility scale for crime. At the time of this report, there were 474 crimes reported; but in all fairness, a majority of them were property related. To put it in perspective, you have a 1 in 162.6 chance of being a victim of a crime, so just be smart so that you can win at the adult version of the game of LIFE.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$75,851 median income · $317,481 median home · #8 best place in Louisiana
Located in
St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
There might be remnants of Civil War battles on this soil, but the only battle being fought now in Louisiana’s 8th best place to live, Covington, is the battle to keep the city’s cost of living down and its criminals at bay. And, folks, it seems to be working as Covington scored an 8/10 for housing on our SnackAbility scale. Incidentally, Covington has the 2nd best median home price at $317,481 and living expenses like groceries, health and transportation services are well below the state and national average. The same can be said for the crime rate here. Not only is Covington one of the safest places in Louisiana, there were only 138 committed here last year.
We bet that you didn’t know that Covington is in a region referred to as the Ozona belt–basically, this small town in St. Tammany Parish has some of the best air and water quality in the state. So, there’s no excuse to get out and about in this town, and we recommend you start at one corner of the 80,000 acres that have been set aside for city parks and wildlife refuge areas. And if that doesn’t suit your fancy, the city itself is located where the Bogue Falaya and Tchefuncte River meet. In fact, We hear that the annual Three Rivers Art Festival is a must see.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$105,876 median income · $276,689 median home · #9 best place in Louisiana
Located in
Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Hop on the causeway and head west from Mandeville and you will run right smack dab into Louisiana’s 9th best place to live, Youngsville.
This is why Youngsville is Louisiana’s best of the best: this city of 17,427 residents in Lafayette Parish are pretty smart. The number of people with a high school diploma is close to 25% and the number of people with a degree is upwards of 45%–that’s over half the population, folks. In fact, Youngsville earned one of the highest scores on our SnackAbility Scale–a 9/10 for best city indicators like jobs, safety, and education.
Youngsville’s job market is also strong: the current unemployment rate here is the 1st in the state at 1.2% and the city’s average combined household income is $105,876/year. And you’re going to need a job if you choose to buy a home here instead of rent as the median home price in Youngsville is the 7th highest in the state at $276,689. The cost of living here is slightly higher than the rest of the state, but can you really put a dollar amount on happiness? We don’t think so. In fact, we’re pretty sure that if you asked any Youngsville-ite, they will tell you that Youngsville is one of the happiest places to live, work, and raise a family in the state. Yes, life truly is sweeter in “young village.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,194 median income · $184,223 median home · #10 best place in Louisiana
Located in
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
The 10th best place to live in Louisiana is Houma, where the Cajun credentials are the real deal. Home values average around $184,223, and a 3.3% unemployment rate that sits among the lowest in the state tells you the economy rooted in Terrebonne Parish’s oil and seafood industries is holding strong.
The Terrebonne Museum at Historic Southdown Plantation is worth a Saturday afternoon, and honestly, the downtown po-boy joints are worth basically every other day.
New Orleans is about an hour north. Close enough for a weekend trip when you need bigger city energy.
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: $60,756
Louisiana statewide median: $211,635
Louisiana statewide median: 6.3%
On the map
Mapping The Best And Worst Places To Live in Louisiana
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In Louisiana
Before we even started to collect data on the best places to live in Louisiana, we had to answer a tough question: Is it fair to pit cities with populations over 100,000 against places with a population of 18?
We firmly decided no, that just isn’t fair.
So, to create our ranking, we broke the best places to live into three tiers:
- Cities — Populations over 5,000
- Towns — Populations between 1,000 and 5,000
- Small Towns — Populations below 1,000
We then decided no matter how much anyone loves their town, the best cities to live in Louisiana have more of everything, and therefore, you need over 5,000 people to truly be ‘the best.’
Now that we had our set of the best possible cities, it was time to rank them using Saturday Night Science.
We ranked each place in Louisiana across a number of criteria from one to 56, with one being the best.
We then took the average rank across all criteria, crowning the city posting the lowest overall score, the “Best Place To Live In Louisiana.”
The criteria we looked to determine the best places were:
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Population Density (Higher is better)
- Unemployment Rate
- Commute Time
- Crime
- Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty rates
Sources of criteria include the New Census Data, FBI Crime Data, and Zillow. We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking Louisiana’s best places to live.
If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in Louisiana. Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Harahan at the end of the cul-de-sac.
The full plate
Best Places To Live In Louisiana Table
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Best Score | Population | Unemployment Rate | Home Value | Median Income | Rent | Total Crime /100k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harahan | 6.15 | 8,904 | 3.8% | $315,751 | $79,516 | 797 | |
| 2 | Mandeville | 10.60 | 12,946 | 2.9% | $355,608 | $94,405 | 1,375 | |
| 3 | Addis | 12.80 | 7,252 | 1.8% | $244,631 | $108,041 | 896 | |
| 4 | Broussard | 15.60 | 14,322 | 3.6% | $282,910 | $116,179 | 2,444 | |
| 5 | Central | 16.50 | 29,783 | 2.2% | $282,212 | $89,554 | 2,376 | |
| 6 | Sulphur | 18.30 | 20,775 | 4.3% | $195,533 | $61,760 | 3,162 | |
| 7 | Zachary | 19.10 | 19,952 | 6.9% | $267,773 | $84,480 | 2,376 | |
| 8 | Covington | 20.85 | 11,658 | 5.6% | $317,481 | $75,851 | 1,184 | |
| 9 | Youngsville | 21.30 | 17,427 | 1.2% | $276,689 | $105,876 | 5,403 | |
| 10 | Houma | 21.40 | 32,392 | 3.3% | $184,223 | $58,194 | 4,295 | |
| 11 | Thibodaux | 21.70 | 15,732 | 4.3% | $226,921 | $52,072 | 3,197 | |
| 12 | Kenner | 22.50 | 64,904 | 6.6% | $268,195 | $64,020 | 3,054 | |
| 13 | Lake Charles | 22.95 | 81,143 | 6.6% | $199,012 | $59,235 | 2,963 | |
| 14 | Plaquemine | 23.55 | 6,075 | 3.8% | $159,906 | $69,366 | 4,395 | |
| 15 | Baton Rouge | 23.90 | 222,771 | 9.2% | $228,415 | $49,994 | 2,376 | |
| 16 | Ponchatoula | 24.00 | 7,808 | 2.3% | $247,934 | $51,161 | 2,421 | |
| 17 | Slidell | 24.45 | 28,561 | 5.8% | $218,143 | $70,497 | 2,531 | |
| 18 | Westwego | 24.85 | 8,335 | 2.7% | $179,563 | $46,261 | 2,424 | |
| 19 | Lafayette | 25.30 | 121,715 | 5.2% | $224,254 | $61,915 | 5,403 | |
| 20 | Ruston | 25.70 | 22,284 | 3.4% | $225,352 | $31,120 | 3,379 | |
| 21 | New Orleans | 25.90 | 371,853 | 7.5% | $242,493 | $56,631 | 4,295 | |
| 22 | Denham Springs | 26.05 | 9,323 | 7.4% | $255,931 | $71,569 | 3,897 | |
| 23 | Gonzales | 26.55 | 13,108 | 7.9% | $288,155 | $75,451 | 4,677 | |
| 24 | Walker | 26.80 | 6,390 | 6.8% | $253,184 | $80,707 | 3,897 | |
| 25 | Scott | 27.35 | 8,609 | 5.9% | $218,990 | $56,299 | 2,381 | |
| 26 | Carencro | 27.80 | 11,619 | 6.7% | $218,909 | $63,401 | 2,935 | |
| 27 | Franklin | 27.90 | 6,461 | 2.8% | $89,151 | $39,518 | 783 | |
| 28 | Rayne | 28.75 | 7,105 | 7.2% | $173,349 | $42,151 | 929 | |
| 29 | Minden | 29.15 | 11,455 | 2.7% | $140,974 | $34,294 | 3,213 | |
| 30 | Patterson | 30.05 | 5,744 | 9.5% | $136,405 | $49,886 | 783 | |
| 31 | Baker | 30.20 | 12,253 | 16.6% | $180,739 | $54,750 | 2,089 | |
| 32 | Pineville | 30.35 | 14,160 | 3.3% | $193,577 | $49,774 | 9,072 | |
| 33 | Hammond | 30.85 | 21,539 | 5.9% | $222,619 | $48,166 | 5,165 | |
| 34 | Breaux Bridge | 31.15 | 7,501 | 3.5% | $182,775 | $47,806 | 4,295 | |
| 35 | Tallulah | 31.30 | 5,969 | 7.1% | $77,518 | $33,419 | 754 | |
| 36 | New Iberia | 31.50 | 27,571 | 10.7% | $145,864 | $47,087 | 3,997 | |
| 37 | Abbeville | 31.60 | 11,003 | 5.5% | $138,932 | $33,015 | 524 | |
| 38 | DeRidder | 31.75 | 9,763 | 10.1% | $153,081 | $59,801 | 4,295 | |
| 39 | Natchitoches | 32.45 | 17,577 | 7.1% | $181,713 | $37,133 | 5,086 | |
| 40 | Shreveport | 32.65 | 180,982 | 9.0% | $135,092 | $48,699 | 5,049 | |
| 41 | Gretna | 33.15 | 17,389 | 6.3% | $238,821 | $43,110 | 4,083 | |
| 42 | Crowley | 33.85 | 11,422 | 14.3% | $123,650 | $28,642 | 1,636 | |
| 43 | St. Martinville | 34.10 | 5,297 | 9.0% | $150,321 | $36,130 | 4,295 | |
| 44 | Alexandria | 34.25 | 44,060 | 5.2% | $144,328 | $47,113 | 9,072 | |
| 45 | St. Gabriel | 34.65 | 6,639 | 8.3% | $263,882 | $74,688 | 4,395 | |
| 46 | Eunice | 35.55 | 9,239 | 8.6% | $109,304 | $35,436 | 1,636 | |
| 47 | Jennings | 35.65 | 9,553 | 4.0% | $134,099 | $48,558 | 4,208 | |
| 48 | West Monroe | 36.80 | 12,729 | 9.6% | $194,939 | $49,386 | 6,843 | |
| 49 | Leesville | 36.90 | 5,495 | 9.8% | $153,498 | $37,500 | 4,295 | |
| 50 | Monroe | 36.95 | 47,004 | 10.2% | $149,717 | $40,505 | 7,510 | |
| 51 | Donaldsonville | 38.35 | 6,831 | 13.4% | $164,852 | $23,618 | 4,677 | |
| 52 | Oakdale | 41.75 | 6,546 | 14.4% | $84,731 | $42,540 | 4,295 | |
| 53 | Ville Platte | 42.00 | 6,253 | 22.8% | $98,290 | $28,361 | 4,295 | |
| 54 | Opelousas | 42.20 | 15,495 | 11.9% | $123,099 | $32,964 | 6,292 | |
| 55 | Bastrop | 43.20 | 9,232 | 15.1% | $89,353 | $32,605 | 5,958 | |
| 56 | Bogalusa | 45.05 | 10,468 | 15.7% | $85,577 | $30,749 | 5,235 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, Zillow research. 56 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places In Louisiana
If you’re looking at areas in Louisiana with the best economic situations, where there’s lower than average crime, and a lot to do, this is an accurate list.
The best places to live in Louisiana are Harahan, Mandeville, Addis, Broussard, Central, Sulphur, Zachary, Covington, Youngsville, and Houma.
Harahan made a strong showing to take in the overall number one spot for the best place to live in Louisiana for 2026.
