Is Louisiana a Good Deal or a Trade-off?

What it costs to live here, and how good a place it is to live, in plain numbers.

Best place to live rank

#48

48th out of 50 states overall.

Among the worst in the country for overall quality of life.

How we rank states ›

Cost to live here

#6

6th cheapest state, about 18% below average.

To live the way $75,000 affords in an average state, you would need about $61,900 here.

How we measure cost ›

Louisiana ranks 48th of 50 states for overall quality of life and 6th for affordability. It does best on cost, walkability, and air quality, and struggles most with safety, dog friendly, and climate. A typical household earns about $59,500 a year, and the cost of living runs about 18% below average.

Why Louisiana ranks #48 for living

Our Best Life Rank scores every state on the things that shape daily life, from cost and climate to schools and safety. Here is how Louisiana scores on each, best to worst.

Cost of living
#6 of 50
Walkability
#22 of 50
Air quality
#36 of 50
Green space
#44 of 50
Education
#45 of 50
Economy
#46 of 50
Healthcare
#47 of 50
Safety
#47 of 50
Dog friendly
#47 of 50
Climate
#48 of 50

Each factor is ranked 1 (best) to 50 (worst) across all states. Green is strong, yellow is middling, red is weak.

Louisiana at a glance

Typical household income

$59,500

47th highest

Typical home price

$249,000

42nd highest

Overall cost of living

18% below average

6th cheapest

Total taxes on a typical household

About 6%

38th highest income tax

Typical commute

About 26 min

one way

Taxes in Louisiana

See your real Louisiana take-home pay

Enter your salary and get your actual paycheck after Louisiana taxes.

Calculate my take-home pay ›
Sources: Cost and income from the U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tax rates from the Tax Foundation. Best Life Rank factors from the Commonwealth Fund, NAEP, FBI, EPA, and NOAA. Cost measured by the BLISS Score, v1.3 method. Updated 2026.