Lafourche Parish, LA

County Profile

96,252 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lafourche 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 39% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity855th of 1,463 counties measured51
SchoolsTop 17% of 1,377 counties measured76
Growth1,138th of 1,453 counties measured34
Housing affordability1,189th of 1,462 counties measured63
ClimateTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured83
Physical resilience1,120th of 1,463 counties measured36
Access743rd of 1,463 counties measured81
Economic stability1,185th of 1,463 counties measured35
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.8% and median household income $63,135, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 77% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 17% of published profiles for schools.

282 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 15% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
96,252
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,135
Bottom 45% nationally
Density
90/sq mi
1,067.8 sq mi of land
Median age
39.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lafourche Parish
Louisiana
Nearest major airport
MSY
36 mi · Louis Armstrong New Orleans Intl
Median home value
$193,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8%, lower than in 61% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 41,040 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$48,52218th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$50,05123rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,7442024 ACS 5-Year$63,135Bottom 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3602024 ACS 5-Year$33,881Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$61,485Top 33%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.3%Bottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.9 minBottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year21.1%Bottom 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.7%73rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202641,040Top 45%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.6%Bottom 41%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 46%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202642,67055th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.1%Bottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%72nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.8%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.62.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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

202120222023202463k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,135 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 — Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Sailors and Marine Oilers2,140$48,500
Cashiers2,070$25,990
Retail Salespersons2,060$29,220
Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels2,040$103,780
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,000$33,310
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,990$22,280

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

77% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 83% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher across 30 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
30
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
77.4%
Top 13% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
82.8%
Top 10% in Louisiana
The 12 largest of 30 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Central Lafourche High SchoolLafourche Parish1,30722.986%88%
Thibodaux High SchoolLafourche Parish1,30621.175%80%
South Lafourche High SchoolLafourche Parish99019.088%86%
Thibodaux Middle SchoolLafourche Parish59213.857%73%
Thibodaux Elementary SchoolLafourche Parish57514.0——
Bayou Community Academy Charter School · charterLafourche Parish49917.298%100%
W.S. Lafargue Elementary SchoolLafourche Parish45715.862%67%
Bayou Blue Elementary SchoolLafourche Parish45415.186%83%
Larose-Cut Off Middle SchoolLafourche Parish43015.978%85%
Lockport Lower Elementary SchoolLafourche Parish42915.3——
Bayou Blue Upper Elementary SchoolLafourche Parish42716.4——
Bayou Blue Middle SchoolLafourche Parish39616.568%81%

63.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Louisiana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 11% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area is up 17% over five years, but down 0.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,038 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,102, some 19% above the $928 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,102 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,100 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $63,135.

The typical renter household here spends 35% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $928 a month.

A median home at $193,900 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $75,270, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
88.9

Prices here run about 11% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
35.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,102
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$928
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$193,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lafourche Parish’s median household income of $63,135, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area’s figure202388.9Top 12%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−0.8%2nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+16.8%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+26.9%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 46%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year79.9%80th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±782024 ACS 5-Year41,44780th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$904Top 43%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,330Top 29%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,102Top 41%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$632024 ACS 5-Year$928Bottom 40%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,5982024 ACS 5-Year$193,90054th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$882024 ACS 5-Year$1,03825th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,7852024 ACS 5-Year$75,270Bottom 47%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.54%20th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year35.4%Bottom 4%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±912024 ACS 5-Year14728th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%7th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%46th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5542024 ACS 5-Year3,68572nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

34/ 100
Ranks 1,138 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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, to 95,342 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 341 units authorized in 2025, up 7% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 282 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Lafourche Parish lost about 0.7% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $48,522, close to the $50,051 of households that moved out.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
282
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Top 49% nationally
Year over year
−15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202498k95k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
20%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$48,522
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,051
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Terrebonne Parish, LA 1,520 people · 46% of arrivals
  2. Assumption Parish, LA 192 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  3. Jefferson Parish, LA 149 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  4. St. Charles Parish, LA 107 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. St. Mary Parish, LA 96 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Terrebonne Parish, LA 1,555 people · 41% of departures
  2. Assumption Parish, LA 171 people · 4.5% of departures
  3. East Baton Rouge Parish, LA 130 people · 3.4% of departures
  4. Jefferson Parish, LA 125 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Lafayette Parish, LA 118 people · 3.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025496319
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−31%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 45°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 66.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 48, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GALLIANO, 5.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND9.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals66.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year482024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
48
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

36 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, tornado and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 65% of it. Tornado and inland flooding are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneHigh
DroughtModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, lightning, cold wave, inland flooding, hail, strong wind, earthquake, winter weather, landslide, wildfire, ice storm, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lafourche Parish has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 24.2 per 100,000 residents in Lafourche Parish.

Homicide
5.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
24.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Lafourche Parish as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Louis Armstrong New Orleans Intl at 36 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year86.7%Bottom 49%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle36 miTop 50%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Bottom 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Louis Armstrong New Orleans IntlMSY36 mi10,104 ft
Stennis IntlHSA83 mi8,498 ft
Acadiana RgnlARA97 mi8,002 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
56
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Lafourche Parish, LA