New Iberia, Louisiana

Area Profile

27,571 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for New Iberia, in Iberia Parish.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 29% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3020th of 3,904 published cities43
SchoolsTop 45% of 2,668 published cities55
Growth1920th of 2,973 published cities42
Housing affordabilityTop 43% of 4,223 published cities85
ClimateTop 16% of 4,223 published cities81
Physical resilience3144th of 4,182 published cities31
AccessTop 19% of 4,226 published cities98
Economic stability4089th of 4,226 published cities25
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places New Iberia in the bottom 23%.

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

A major airport is 4 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
27,571
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$47,087
Bottom 19% nationally
Density
2,475/sq mi
11.1 sq mi of land
Median age
37.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Iberia Parish
Louisiana
Metro area
New Iberia, LA
Nearest major airport
ARA
4 mi · Acadiana Rgnl
Median home value
$158,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% is lower than 13% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 1.2% over the past year, to 10,183 employed residents.

Median household income of $47,087 is below 81% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$6,480$47,087Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,480$31,076Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate26.7%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute21.4 minBottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher17.3%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment10,183Bottom 3%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.0%Top 23%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.2%Top 11%June 2026
Labor force10,781Bottom 3%June 2026
Labor force participation55.0%Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 35%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.5%Top 13%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/06114.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% 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
202120222023202451k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $47,087 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.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

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

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.3%
Top 46% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
42.0%
Bottom 48% in Louisiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
New Iberia Senior High SchoolIberia Parish1,31515.8
Westgate High SchoolIberia Parish86313.9
Caneview Elementary SchoolIberia Parish50915.440%44%
Daspit Road Elementary SchoolIberia Parish50317.340%40%
North Lewis Elementary SchoolIberia Parish48813.945%60%
Jefferson Island Road ElementaryIberia Parish48613.945%48%
Park Elementary SchoolIberia Parish44016.927%34%
Pesson Addition Elementary SchoolIberia Parish42715.331%28%
Magnolia ElementaryIberia Parish40713.633%37%
Iberia Middle SchoolIberia Parish40510.922%47%
Belle Place Elementary SchoolIberia Parish37713.544%38%
Center Street Elementary SchoolIberia Parish36814.238%37%

76.6% 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 $894 takes 23% 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
22.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$894
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$158,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.36Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate51.5%Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±40713,546Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$75$894Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,461$158,300Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.8%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.0%Top 32%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
42/ 100
Ranks 1920 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 3 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 5% since 2020, reaching 26,849 in 2024.

Permit activity has risen for 3 consecutive years.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
18
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 24% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
33.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202428k27k
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
2022202320242025142.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+600%).

Weather & climate

8 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 43°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 59.7 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW IBERIA ACADIANA RGNL AP, 4.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation59.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low43°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing30°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

31 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Coastal floodingModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. 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.

Iberia Parish records 23.6 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 25.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.7 per 100,000 residents in Iberia Parish.

Homicide
23.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
25.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
20.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

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 Iberia 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 New Iberia rather than New Iberia 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 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Acadiana RgnlARA4 mi8,002 ft
Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet FldLFT17 mi8,000 ft
Chennault IntlCWF80 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.

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
55
Your Score

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

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.

ZIP codes in New Iberia

2 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7056036,996$45,50954
7056320,165$76,47762