Poorest Cities In Louisiana For 2023


We used science and data to determine which places in Louisiana are basically dead broke.

Louisiana brings to mind images of Baton Rouge, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.

However, like all states, Louisiana has certain places that are going on hard times. These Louisiana places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the poorest places in Louisiana.

To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 60 places in Louisiana with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the ten poorest places in Louisiana for 2023:

  1. Donaldsonville
  2. Ville Platte
  3. Bastrop
  4. Natchitoches
  5. Crowley
  6. Tallulah
  7. Marksville
  8. Opelousas
  9. Bogalusa
  10. Eunice

Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

What’s the poorst city in Louisiana? According to the facts, Donaldsonville is the poorest place in Louisiana for 2023.

Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Louisiana or the most dangerous.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.

For more Louisiana reading, check out:

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Louisiana.

The 10 Poorest Cities In Louisiana For 2023

1. Donaldsonville

Donaldsonville, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Louisiana thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 6,834 people averages the lowest median household income in Louisiana and the 2nd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 6,834
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $20,052 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 15.4% (4th highest)
Poverty Rate: 46.9% (2nd highest)
More on Donaldsonville:  Data | Photos

Donaldsonville, LA

2. Ville Platte

The second poorest city in Louisiana is Ville Platte.

The city ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the highest in the Pelican State.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 6,488
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $21,818 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 27.2% (highest)
Poverty Rate: 41.5% (6th highest)
More on Ville Platte:  Data | Photos

Ville Platte, LA

3. Bastrop

Placing as the third poorest city, Bastrop’s median income ranks as the 3rd lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 43.97509081473793% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Pelican State.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 9,879
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 5)
Median Income: $23,955 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.7% (7th highest)
Poverty Rate: 44.0% (3rd highest)
More on Bastrop:  Data | Photos

Bastrop, LA

4. Natchitoches

Natchitoches ranks as the fourth poorest place in Louisiana.

The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 18,105
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $28,401 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 17.7% (2nd highest)
Poverty Rate: 37.4% (7th highest)
More on Natchitoches:  Data | Photos

Natchitoches, LA

Source: Public domain

5. Crowley

The fifth poorest city in Louisiana is Crowley.

The city ranks as having the 8th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 5th highest in Louisiana.

Still not the best news for Crowley.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 11,916
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $28,775 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 17.4% (3rd highest)
Poverty Rate: 42.3% (5th highest)
More on Crowley:  Data | Photos

Crowley, LA

6. Tallulah

Tallulah ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Pelican State.

It ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and the 9th highest unemployment rate.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,357
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Median Income: $30,409 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 11.8% (9th highest)
Poverty Rate: 42.3% (4th highest)
More on Tallulah:  Data | Photos

Tallulah, LA

7. Marksville

Marksville places as the seventh poorest city in Louisiana.

The city of over 5,118 ranks as having the 11th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 5,118
Rank Last Year: 19 (Up 12)
Median Income: $25,786 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.8% (16th highest)
Poverty Rate: 35.0% (11th highest)
More on Marksville:  Data

8. Opelousas

Opelousas ranks as the eighth poorest city in Louisiana.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 14th highest in the state.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 15,884
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 4)
Median Income: $33,272 (13th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.8% (14th highest)
Poverty Rate: 37.2% (8th highest)
More on Opelousas:  Data | Photos

Opelousas, LA

9. Bogalusa

Bogalusa couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Louisiana; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 12th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Bogalusa ranks as having the 15th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Louisiana.

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 10,921
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 3)
Median Income: $32,613 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.1% (8th highest)
Poverty Rate: 32.3% (15th highest)
More on Bogalusa:  Data | Photos

Bogalusa, LA

10. Eunice

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Louisiana is Eunice.

The city of 9,589 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Pelican State.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 9,589
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $35,982 (18th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.7% (6th highest)
Poverty Rate: 33.8% (13th highest)
More on Eunice:  Data | Photos

Eunice, LA

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Louisiana for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
  • Unemployment Rate

The “median household income adjusted for the cost of living” attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.

The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.

After we collected the data for all 60 places with more than 5,000 people in Louisiana, we ranked each place from 1 to 60 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Donaldsonville, crowned the “Poorest Place In Louisiana For 2023”.

Summary: The Poorest Places In Louisiana For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Louisiana, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Louisiana.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Louisiana, according to data:

    Richest: Youngsville
    2nd Richest: Central
    3rd Richest: Addis

For more Louisiana reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Louisiana

Rank City Population Poverty Rate
1 Donaldsonville 6,834 46.9%
2 Ville Platte 6,488 41.5%
3 Bastrop 9,879 44.0%
4 Natchitoches 18,105 37.4%
5 Crowley 11,916 42.3%
6 Tallulah 6,357 42.3%
7 Marksville 5,118 35.0%
8 Opelousas 15,884 37.2%
9 Bogalusa 10,921 32.3%
10 Eunice 9,589 33.8%
11 Leesville 5,666 33.5%
12 St. Martinville 5,602 24.5%
13 Monroe 48,105 34.9%
14 Rayne 7,332 27.1%
15 Grambling 5,127 48.5%
16 New Iberia 28,844 27.8%
17 Hammond 19,374 37.0%
18 Oakdale 7,092 24.7%
19 Breaux Bridge 7,711 26.0%
20 West Monroe 13,103 28.9%
21 Westwego 8,538 24.8%
22 Abbeville 11,313 30.6%
23 Franklin 6,811 22.5%
24 Alexandria 45,736 27.1%
25 Minden 12,145 31.5%
26 Shreveport 189,374 24.5%
27 Morgan City 11,525 21.8%
28 Ruston 22,286 35.6%
29 Baton Rouge 225,539 24.4%
30 New Orleans 383,974 23.8%
31 Deridder 10,060 19.0%
32 Gretna 17,836 23.2%
33 Plaquemine 6,187 25.6%
34 Bossier City 63,168 20.1%
35 Jennings 9,836 19.9%
36 Ponchatoula 7,729 23.3%
37 Patterson 5,928 18.5%
38 Houma 33,461 19.5%
39 Lake Charles 83,444 20.8%
40 Baker 12,736 14.9%
41 St. Gabriel 7,046 11.7%
42 Lafayette 122,469 19.5%
43 Thibodaux 15,242 18.2%
44 Pineville 14,653 15.4%
45 Carencro 9,531 22.1%
46 Gonzales 12,080 11.2%
47 Kenner 66,411 15.6%
48 Sulphur 21,490 14.6%
49 Slidell 28,537 14.1%
50 Covington 11,155 17.6%
51 Scott 8,200 11.8%
52 Walker 6,322 8.9%
53 Broussard 12,960 16.9%
54 Zachary 19,278 5.9%
55 Denham Springs 9,389 5.2%
56 Harahan 9,137 8.2%
57 Mandeville 12,985 7.6%
58 Addis 6,503 8.3%
59 Central 29,746 5.9%
60 Youngsville 15,167 5.9%