The New Orleans area, specifically places along Lake Pontchartrain, includes many of the wealthiest … More
A recent series of studies has analyzed and identified the richest cities in various states. The U.S. South has been a region recently evaluated, including the wealthiest places in Mississippi and Alabama. Here. It is Louisiana’s turn to be investigated. The analysis covered 489 cities in the state in order to identify the richest cities in Louisiana. The way in which each city was evaluated and scored in the ranking is detailed below.
Read on to find out what the richest city in Louisiana is, plus the top 15 wealthiest cities in the state overall.
What Are the Richest Cities in Louisiana?
In order to assemble this list of the richest cities in Louisiana, key financial data was sourced from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. Equipped with these datasets, a four-factor scoring system was built to help identify the wealthiest cities in Louisiana:
Median household income
Mean (average) household income
Median home value
Median property taxes paid
When it comes to Census data, keep these things in mind: For certain factors, the Census numbers have upper limits. For example, for median household income, the Census Bureau has an upper limit of “$250,000+”. For median home value, the upper limit is “$2,000,000+”. For median property taxes paid, the upper limit is “$10,000+”. For these reasons, the mean household income (which is the same as average household income) dataset is crucial because the Census Bureau has exact figures for it. All four of these metrics were scored, added up, and then ranked by the cities’ combined scores.
Another thing to keep in mind is that what are termed cities here are categorized as “places”, census-designated places, by the Census Bureau. Thus, some cities on this list may be considered unincorporated communities, but are treated as individual cities by the Census Bureau’s designation of them as a place.
Below you’ll find a table detailing the top 15 richest cities in Louisiana and their respective dollar figures for each metric:
The No. 1 richest city in Louisiana is Lewisburg. This place sits on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, right near the bridge across from New Orleans. This town is replete with beautiful lakefront properties. It’s a small place, with only 85 total households. But it’s a wealthy town. The median household income here is $162,958. The average household income is $208,869. Over 21% of households earn $200,000 or more; fully 100% of households earn at least $100,000 per year. The median home value reported by the Census Bureau is $556,800, which is the highest in the state. Meanwhile, it also has the highest median property taxes, at $5,729 per household.
The No. 2 richest city in Louisiana is Spokane, an unincorporated community that sits upon the oxbow lake, Lake St. John. This is another beautiful lakefront town. There are only 165 total households here. The median household income is 4101,641, while the average household income is $198,302. The median home value here is $356,400. Fortunately, property taxes here are much lower than in the No. 1 richest city. The median property taxes paid per year in Spokane is $1,829.
Coming in at No. 3 on our list of the richest cities in Louisiana is Bayou Gauche. This place is southwest of New Orleans and features many newer homes, suggesting its wealth has risen in recent years. That might explain why the median home value is comparatively low for a city on this list, at $295,900. The median property taxes paid here amount to $1,257 per year. But incomes are high here and higher than most other cities on this top 20 list. The median household income is $149,107. The average household income is $152,444.
The largest city to make this list of the top 20 richest cities in Louisiana is Prairieville, southeast of Baton Rouge. This place is home to well over 12,000 total households. Its incomes are quite high for a city of its size too. The median household income is $115,610. The mean household income is $133,793. Nearly one-fifth of households earn $200,000 or more a year. And 56.1% of households here earn $100,000 or more per year.