St. Bernard Parish, LA

County Profile

44,419 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for St. Bernard 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.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,224th of 1,463 counties measured37
SchoolsTop 38% of 1,377 counties measured59
Growth1,039th of 1,453 counties measured39
Housing affordability1,189th of 1,462 counties measured63
ClimateTop 9% of 1,463 counties measured78
Physical resilience1,193rd of 1,463 counties measured32
AccessTop 46% of 1,463 counties measured82
Economic stability1,233rd of 1,463 counties measured31
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.7% and the Opportunity signal places St. Bernard Parish in the bottom 16%.

In the public schools here, 73% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.2 students for every teacher.

99 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
44,419
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,651
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
118/sq mi
377.5 sq mi of land
Median age
36.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
St. Bernard Parish
Louisiana
Nearest major airport
HSA
33 mi · Stennis Intl
Median home value
$202,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% — higher than in all but 29% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.2% over the past year, to 18,699 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$40,3113rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$43,6446th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4312024 ACS 5-Year$58,651Bottom 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1492024 ACS 5-Year$30,406Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$43,885Bottom 5%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.6%Bottom 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.3 minBottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.6%Bottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.4%42nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202618,699Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.5%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 43%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,61929th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.4%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.7%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%48th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.63.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% 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

202120222023202459k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,651 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 — New Orleans-Metairie, LA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons12,030$30,400
Registered Nurses11,530$81,850
General and Operations Managers10,670$105,110
Fast Food and Counter Workers10,110$25,470
Waiters and Waitresses10,050$16,640
Cashiers9,320$28,370

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.

73% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 72% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
72.7%
Top 27% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
72.5%
Bottom 40% in Louisiana
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Chalmette High SchoolSt. Bernard Parish2,19314.878%73%
N.P. Trist Middle SchoolSt. Bernard Parish76716.770%76%
Lacoste Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish62115.581%76%
Joseph J. Davies Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish59312.984%78%
Arlene Meraux Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish58317.169%67%
Arabi Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish56715.868%75%
Andrew Jackson Middle SchoolSt. Bernard Parish54614.055%72%
J.F. Gauthier SchoolSt. Bernard Parish50016.179%79%
Chalmette Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish46711.170%68%
W. Smith Jr. Elementary SchoolSt. Bernard Parish33310.772%62%
St. Bernard Middle SchoolSt. Bernard Parish31912.862%71%
C.F. Rowley Alternative SchoolSt. Bernard Parish1036.422%27%

62.9% 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 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.2, 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 New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area is up 14% over five years, and up 2.7% 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 $961 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.47% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,331, some 23% above the $1,082 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,331 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,200 a year, about 91% of the median household income here of $58,651.

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 $1,082 a month.

A median home at $202,500 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $72,406, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.2

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the New Orleans-Metairie, 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
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,331
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,082
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$202,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against St. Bernard Parish’s median household income of $58,651, 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 New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area’s figure202391.2Top 26%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+2.7%30th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+13.9%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the New Orleans-Metairie, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+41.6%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 36%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.1%29th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±422024 ACS 5-Year18,24862nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,113Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,701Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,331Bottom 35%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$1,082Bottom 24%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,8142024 ACS 5-Year$202,50057th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$952024 ACS 5-Year$96122nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,2842024 ACS 5-Year$72,406Bottom 40%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.47%14th 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 ±1042024 ACS 5-Year47558th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.6%49th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%46th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2892024 ACS 5-Year2,02954th 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

39/ 100
Ranks 1,039 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, in a series running from 2020 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 grown 2% since 2020, reaching 44,783 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 44,783 residents in 2024, up 0.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 99 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show St. Bernard Parish lost about 0.3% 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 $40,311, below the $43,644 of households that moved out.

At 2.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
99
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.2
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
−15%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202445k44k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
20%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$40,311
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$43,644
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Orleans Parish, LA 856 people · 41% of arrivals
  2. Jefferson Parish, LA 384 people · 19% of arrivals
  3. St. Tammany Parish, LA 171 people · 8.3% of arrivals
  4. Plaquemines Parish, LA 49 people · 2.4% of arrivals
  5. Harris County, TX 46 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Orleans Parish, LA 604 people · 28% of departures
  2. Jefferson Parish, LA 367 people · 17% of departures
  3. St. Tammany Parish, LA 318 people · 15% of departures
  4. Pearl River County, MS 102 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Harris County, TX 61 people · 2.8% 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

202020212022202320242025340112
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−66%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 42°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 62.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 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 GULFPORT - BILOXI AP, 35.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals62.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
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

32 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and coastal flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 73% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneHigh
Coastal floodingElevated
DroughtModerate

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

St. Bernard Parish has a modeled homicide rate of about 12.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 17.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 47.2 per 100,000 residents in St. Bernard Parish.

Homicide
12.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
47.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
11.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 St. Bernard 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 Stennis Intl at 33 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.5%Top 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle33 miTop 47%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%Bottom 48%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Stennis IntlHSA33 mi8,498 ft
Louis Armstrong New Orleans IntlMSY60 mi10,104 ft
Mobile RgnlMOB81 mi8,502 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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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 St. Bernard Parish, LA