Louisiana cities

The best places to live in Louisiana

Louisiana's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Central leads the list.

We scored Louisiana's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
6 Kenner $196,300 $992 63 68
9 Metairie $261,400 $1,004 54 63
11 Baton Rouge $191,100 $937 40 61
14 Lake Charles $169,300 $892 49 50
17 Lafayette $209,100 $948 41 50
18 Bossier City $165,600 $983 46 49
23 Alexandria $157,100 $868 31 42
27 New Orleans $255,500 $1,079 24 33
29 Shreveport $155,000 $867 25 21
30 Monroe $149,000 $729 13 18

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Louisiana. Updated 2026.