Best PlacesSt. Martin Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Martin 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.
St. Martin Parish ranks 2,867th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in St. Martin 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.
St. Martin Parish's strengths and weaknesses
Where St. Martin Parish ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 93% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 77% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 69% of counties
Where St. Martin 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
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Martin Parish
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Martin Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,259, 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 St. Martin Parish's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 St. Martin Parish
St. Martin Parish's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for St. Martin Parish.
Who works in St. Martin Parish, and how
Work in St. Martin Parish centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in St. Martin Parish
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across St. Martin Parish.
Is St. Martin Parish growing, and who is moving in?
St. Martin Parish has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Lafayette, LA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Martin Parish go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Martin Parish, month by month
St. Martin Parish sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 45. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 53° | 45° |
| April | 80° | 70° | 61° |
| July | 92° | 83° | 76° |
| October | 83° | 71° | 62° |
Flying in and out of St. Martin Parish
The nearest airport, Lafayette Regional/Paul Fournet Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Martin Parish
Schools across St. Martin Parish average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Parks Primary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Stephensville Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Teche Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Parks Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Cecilia Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- St. Martinville Junior High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Cecilia High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Morgan City High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Breaux Bridge High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Martin Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Martin 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 St. Martin Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Martin Parish suits
Common questions about living in St. Martin Parish
Is St. Martin Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Martin Parish ranks 2,867th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and civic engagement, 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 St. Martin Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,299. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $62,259 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is St. Martin Parish safe?
St. Martin Parish is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $664 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Martin Parish?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 45. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 77% of counties.
Is St. Martin Parish good for families?
Schools beat 14% of counties, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $735 a month.
Compare St. Martin Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Martin Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Martin 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.
St. Martin Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Martin Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Martin Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Martin Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Martin Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Martin 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.