Best PlacesCatahoula Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Catahoula Parish, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Catahoula Parish ranks 3,083rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Catahoula 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.
Catahoula Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Where Catahoula Parish ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 88% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 73% of counties
- Cheap childcare$639 a month, better than 68% of counties
Where Catahoula Parish ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 2% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Catahoula Parish
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Catahoula Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,464, 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 Catahoula Parish's effective rate of 0.24%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Catahoula Parish
Catahoula Parish runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Catahoula Parish.
Who works in Catahoula Parish, and how
Work in Catahoula Parish centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Catahoula Parish
Catahoula Parish has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Catahoula Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Catahoula Parish growing, and who is moving in?
Catahoula Parish has lost about 18% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baton Rouge, LA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Catahoula Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Catahoula Parish, month by month
Catahoula Parish sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 62, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 55° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 83° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Catahoula Parish
The nearest airport, Alexandria International, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Catahoula Parish
Schools across Catahoula Parish average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nebo Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Jonesville Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jena Junior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Jena High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Block High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Catahoula Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Catahoula 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 Catahoula Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Catahoula Parish
Is Catahoula Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Catahoula Parish ranks 3,083rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Catahoula Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,761. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $48,464 median income, cost of living beats 5% of counties.
Is Catahoula Parish safe?
Catahoula Parish is safer than 5% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $837 per resident a year.
Compare Catahoula Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Catahoula Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Catahoula 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.
Catahoula Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Catahoula Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Catahoula Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Catahoula Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Catahoula Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Catahoula 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.