Best PlacesSt. Tammany Parish, LA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Tammany 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.
St. Tammany Parish ranks 1,419th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $87,739, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are car insurance costs, state infrastructure, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in St. Tammany 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 St. Tammany Parish
The parts of St. Tammany 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.
Madisonville
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and local pay stretches further.
Mandeville
Tree cover is thicker and fewer homes sit empty.
Covington & Folsom
It is quieter and prices have run up less.
Abita Springs & Bush
Fewer households have young kids and commutes are longer.
Slidell
Heat risk is higher.
Lacombe
Incomes run lower and health outcomes score lower.
Pearl River
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
St. Tammany Parish shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 10%. Pick the area first, then the home.
St. Tammany Parish's strengths and weaknesses
St. Tammany Parish lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys, an educated workforce, 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 St. Tammany Parish to another than it does between St. Tammany Parish and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where St. Tammany Parish ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of counties
- Household income$87,739 median, better than 85% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of counties
Where St. Tammany Parish ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 1% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 1% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Tammany Parish
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Tammany Parish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,739, 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. Tammany Parish's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 8 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. Tammany Parish
St. Tammany 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. Tammany Parish.
Who works in St. Tammany Parish, and how
Work in St. Tammany Parish centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in St. Tammany Parish
St. Tammany Parish has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 45 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Tammany Parish and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Tammany Parish growing, and who is moving in?
St. Tammany Parish has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New Orleans, LA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Tammany 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. Tammany Parish, month by month
St. Tammany Parish sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through April and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 79° | 68° | 58° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of St. Tammany Parish
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International sits about 32 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 6.2 million passengers in 2025, with 112 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around St. Tammany Parish
Schools across St. Tammany Parish average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pontchartrain Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Woodlake Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Joseph B. Lancaster Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tchefuncte Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Mandeville Junior High SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Mandeville Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Mandeville High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Northshore High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Fontainebleau High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Tammany Parish school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Tammany 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. Tammany Parish against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Tammany Parish suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 68% of counties and health care access beats 84%.
Common questions about living in St. Tammany Parish
Is St. Tammany Parish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Tammany Parish ranks 1,419th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, 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 St. Tammany Parish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $304,978. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $87,739 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is St. Tammany Parish safe?
Yes, St. Tammany Parish is safer than 78% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Tammany Parish?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 43. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Tammany Parish?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Madisonville, Mandeville, and Covington & Folsom. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Tammany Parish good for families?
Schools beat 67% of counties, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $737 a month.
Is St. Tammany Parish good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Tammany Parish with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Tammany Parish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Tammany 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. Tammany Parish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Tammany Parish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Tammany Parish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Tammany Parish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Tammany Parish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Tammany 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.