Acadia Parish, LA

County Profile

56,955 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Acadia Parish, LA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 1,225 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1100th of 1,255 counties34
SchoolsTop 36% of 973 counties62
Growth837th of 1,226 counties40
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 1,255 counties95
ClimateTop 14% of 1,254 counties77
Physical resilience1193rd of 1,255 counties14
AccessTop 33% of 1,255 counties88
Economic stability1146th of 1,255 counties29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places Acadia Parish in the bottom 12%.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.9 students for every teacher.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, inland flooding and tornado.

At a glance

Population
56,955
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$45,562
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
87/sq mi
655.2 sq mi of land
Median age
37.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Acadia Parish
Louisiana
Metro area
Lafayette, LA
Nearest major airport
LFT
26 mi · Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet Fld
Median home value
$155,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 31% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 22,924 employed residents.

Median household income of $45,562 is below 91% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,361$45,562Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,289$26,490Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate25.0%Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute29.6 minTop 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher13.9%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment22,924Bottom 29%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.5%Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 29%June 2026
Labor force24,046Bottom 29%June 2026
Labor force participation55.2%Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 44%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 31%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.33.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202446k42k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $45,562 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Lafayette, LA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides5,200$21,400
Retail Salespersons5,010$28,600
Registered Nurses4,930$81,960
General and Operations Managers4,590$99,510
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand4,500$32,600
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,480$22,320

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.9 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
27
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
37.2%
Top 31% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
47.6%
Top 31% in Louisiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mire Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish66217.943%51%
Rayne High SchoolAcadia Parish65316.7
Iota Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish58517.745%55%
Iota High SchoolAcadia Parish56618.3
Church Point High SchoolAcadia Parish50416.3
Crowley High SchoolAcadia Parish49512.4
Church Point Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish49116.930%42%
Richard Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish45816.445%60%
Crowley Middle SchoolAcadia Parish39414.117%27%
Branch Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish37417.048%56%
South Crowley Elementary SchoolAcadia Parish32015.221%35%
Midland High SchoolAcadia Parish31714.445%45%

67.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Louisiana’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $681 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$681
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$155,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.41Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate67.0%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3725,107Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$63$681Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,929$155,500Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.9%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.0%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
40/ 100
Ranks 837 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, reaching 56,604 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
136
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202457k57k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025148113
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+6%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62.8 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAFAYETTE RGNL AP, 26.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation62.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

14 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado.

HurricaneHigh
DroughtElevated
LightningModerate
Inland floodingHigh
TornadoElevated

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, heat wave, ice storm, wildfire, earthquake, coastal flooding, hail, strong wind, winter weather, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Acadia Parish records 11.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 19.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.7 per 100,000 residents in Acadia Parish.

Homicide
11.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
24.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Acadia Parish as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Acadia Parish rather than Acadia Parish itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 26 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet FldLFT26 mi8,000 ft
Acadiana RgnlARA36 mi8,002 ft
Chennault IntlCWF44 mi10,702 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
51
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

Cities in Acadia Parish, LA