Best PlacesAscension Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ascension Parish, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ascension Parish ranks 1,441st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $98,270, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, state infrastructure, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Ascension Parish
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Ascension Parish
The parts of Ascension Parish, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Geismar
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Prairieville & Gonzales
Crime runs lower and fewer homes sit empty.
Port Vincent
It is quieter, though disaster risk is higher.
St. Amant
Tree cover is thicker, though heat risk is higher.
Donaldsonville
Schools score lower and health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Ascension Parish run from about the 1st to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ascension Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Ascension Parish lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes carry most of that.
The one real hole is car insurance costs, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and disaster risk also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Ascension Parish to another than it does between Ascension Parish and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Ascension Parish ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- Household income$98,270 median, better than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of counties
Where Ascension Parish ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ascension Parish
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ascension Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,270, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Ascension Parish's effective rate of 0.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ascension Parish
Ascension Parish runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ascension Parish.
Who works in Ascension Parish, and how
Work in Ascension Parish centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ascension Parish
Ascension Parish has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ascension Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ascension Parish growing, and who is moving in?
Ascension Parish has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Baton Rouge, LA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ascension Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ascension Parish, month by month
Ascension Parish sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 53° | 44° |
| April | 81° | 69° | 59° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 62° |
Flying in and out of Ascension Parish
The nearest airport, Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ascension Parish
Schools across Ascension Parish average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Grove Primary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Bullion Primary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Bluff Ridge PrimaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bluff Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Prairieville Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Dutchtown Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Dutchtown High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- St. Amant High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- East Ascension High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ascension Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ascension Parish measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Ascension Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ascension Parish suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of counties and health care access beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Ascension Parish
Is Ascension Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ascension Parish ranks 1,441st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes, and lowest on car insurance costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ascension Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,695. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $98,270 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Ascension Parish safe?
Yes, Ascension Parish is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $427 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ascension Parish?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 44. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ascension Parish?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Geismar, Prairieville & Gonzales, and Port Vincent. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Ascension Parish good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $699 a month.
Is Ascension Parish good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Ascension Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ascension Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ascension Parish represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Ascension Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ascension Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ascension Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ascension Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ascension Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ascension Parish detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.