St. Charles Parish, LA

County Profile

51,396 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for St. Charles 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.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 42% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured61
SchoolsTop 2% of 1,377 counties measured92
Growth884th of 1,453 counties measured44
Housing affordability1,339th of 1,462 counties measured53
ClimateTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured77
Physical resilience1,170th of 1,463 counties measured33
AccessTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured98
Economic stability745th of 1,463 counties measured60
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.0% and median household income $80,897, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 79% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 2% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 41% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 2.7 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

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
51,396
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,897
Top 17% nationally
Density
185/sq mi
277.7 sq mi of land
Median age
39.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
St. Charles Parish
Louisiana
Nearest major airport
MSY
8 mi · Louis Armstrong New Orleans Intl
Median home value
$263,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0%, lower than in 53% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 23,836 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,28930th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$55,37242nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$7,4192024 ACS 5-Year$80,897Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5712024 ACS 5-Year$38,258Top 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$60,713Top 35%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.2 minBottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.9%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%88th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202623,836Bottom 38%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+0.1%Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202624,82338th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.2%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%75th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 20260.0%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.0%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.22.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% 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

202120222023202482k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,897 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.

79% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 83% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.3 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
78.9%
Top 10% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
83.0%
Top 7% in Louisiana
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Destrehan High SchoolSt. Charles Parish1,43511.886%83%
Hahnville High SchoolSt. Charles Parish1,41611.677%87%
J.B. Martin Middle SchoolSt. Charles Parish73311.680%84%
Harry M. Hurst Middle SchoolSt. Charles Parish68511.079%85%
Luling Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish6539.162%70%
St. Rose Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish5408.979%83%
Lakewood Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish50111.484%85%
Norco Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish5019.190%87%
Mimosa Park Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish4409.6——
New Sarpy Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish41710.2——
Ethel Schoeffner Elementary SchoolSt. Charles Parish38110.983%85%
R.K. Smith Middle SchoolSt. Charles Parish3038.456%76%

48.0% 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 $1,562 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.59% 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 10% above the $1,210 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 66% of the median household income here of $80,897.

The typical renter household here spends 41% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,210 a month.

A median home at $263,700 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $96,231, 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
40.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,331
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,210
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$263,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against St. Charles Parish’s median household income of $80,897, 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-Year2.7Bottom 38%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.1%89th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±262024 ACS 5-Year20,69465th 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 ±$1012024 ACS 5-Year$1,210Bottom 16%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,8992024 ACS 5-Year$263,70074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1292024 ACS 5-Year$1,56248th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,5812024 ACS 5-Year$96,231Top 17%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.59%27th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±14%2024 ACS 5-Year40.8%Bottom 1%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1662024 ACS 5-Year19435th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%24th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%51st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4262024 ACS 5-Year2,08656th 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

44/ 100
Ranks 884 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 fallen 4% since 2020, to 50,400 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 89 units authorized in 2025, up 20% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 110 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show St. Charles 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 $52,289, below the $55,372 of households that moved out.

At 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
110
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 39% nationally
Year over year
+34%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202453k50k
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
19%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,289
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,372
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jefferson Parish, LA 931 people · 43% of arrivals
  2. St. John the Baptist Parish, LA 210 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  3. Orleans Parish, LA 127 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  4. St. Tammany Parish, LA 79 people · 3.6% of arrivals
  5. Lafourche Parish, LA 60 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Jefferson Parish, LA 643 people · 26% of departures
  2. St. John the Baptist Parish, LA 301 people · 12% of departures
  3. St. Tammany Parish, LA 122 people · 4.9% of departures
  4. Tangipahoa Parish, LA 112 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Lafourche Parish, LA 107 people · 4.3% 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

20202021202220232024202516374
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−36%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 46°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 63.3 inches.

40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW ORLEANS INTL AP, 8.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND7.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals63.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

33 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and inland flooding, with hurricane alone responsible for 50% 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: heat wave, tornado, lightning, cold wave, inland flooding, hail, earthquake, winter weather, strong wind, wildfire, ice storm, 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. Charles Parish has a modeled homicide rate of about 7.5 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 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 33.6 per 100,000 residents in St. Charles Parish.

Homicide
7.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
33.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.6
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. Charles 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Louis Armstrong New Orleans Intl at 8 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year93.8%Top 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle8 miTop 7%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Louis Armstrong New Orleans IntlMSY8 mi10,104 ft
Stennis IntlHSA63 mi8,498 ft
Acadiana RgnlARA92 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.

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Area Score
61
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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
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. Charles Parish, LA