Louisiana Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical Louisiana home is worth $217,039, up 2.1% over the past year and up 1.1% over five years, 41.1% below the national $368,697 (Zillow, latest release). That ranks #48 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $1,117 a month and takes about $64,285 of income; the median Louisiana household earns $55,416, $8,869 short.
In New Orleans, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $1,598 a month against a $1,343 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so buying is $255 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is warm: 24.7% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 80 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is down 3.2% from a year ago.
All figures are Zillow Research's published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau. How the data works → · Home prices in all 50 states →
Louisiana Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in Louisiana? The typical home is worth $217,039, the median sale price is $244,967 and the median list price $263,833. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
How Have Louisiana Home Prices Changed?
The typical Louisiana home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values rose 2.1% over the past year, are up 1.1% over five years, up 17.2% over ten, and up 94% since January 2000.
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in Louisiana?
Two direct answers from the Zillow data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in New Orleans, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since Zillow publishes rents by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical Louisiana home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · New Orleans, LA
The payment excludes property tax (0.55% of value in Louisiana), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (1.1%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #17 of 50
A $1,117 monthly payment takes 24.2% of the median Louisiana household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%. Full budget for your household →
Is Louisiana a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three Zillow signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. Louisiana is warm: it slightly favors sellers: one of the three market signals points cooler than the national market.
Median sale price $244,967 against a median list price of $263,833, so the typical home closes 7.2% below asking.
Where the Louisiana market is heading
Compared with a year ago, two of the three signals point tighter, in sellers' favor: the share of listings with a price cut is down 0.3 points from a year ago to 24.7%, homes take 4 days longer to go pending than a year ago (80 now), and the number of homes for sale is down 3.2%. The typical home value rose 2.1% over the same period and is 4.9% below its July 2022 peak of $228,238. We publish no forecasts: these are Zillow's current-month readings, not a prediction of where Louisiana home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in Louisiana Cities
Zillow publishes a city-level home value or rent for 17 of the Louisiana cities we track. The most expensive is Prairieville ($338,080) and the cheapest Shreveport ($148,292). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans | 364,136 | $243,781 | -1.9% | ||||
| Baton Rouge | 219,563 | $232,056 | +1.6% | ||||
| Shreveport | 177,225 | $148,292 | +3.9% | ||||
| Metairie | 136,597 | $328,021 | +6.4% | ||||
| Lafayette | 121,452 | $226,811 | +2.0% | ||||
| Lake Charles | 79,647 | $206,515 | +2.2% | ||||
| Kenner | 63,339 | $269,861 | +3.9% | ||||
| Bossier City | 62,832 | $229,529 | +1.2% | ||||
| Monroe | 47,241 | $156,120 | +2.3% | ||||
| Alexandria | 44,566 | $149,506 | +3.0% | ||||
| Prairieville | 35,010 | $338,080 | +1.9% | ||||
| Houma | 32,760 | $187,728 | -4.7% | ||||
| Marrero | 31,866 | $228,087 | +5.3% | ||||
| Slidell | 28,664 | $222,268 | -3.4% | ||||
| New Iberia | 27,926 | $153,259 | +2.4% | ||||
| Chalmette | 22,447 | $218,159 | +2.4% | ||||
| Ruston | 22,224 | $228,696 | +2.0% |
Home value and rent are Zillow's city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a Zillow index are omitted. All Louisiana cities ranked →
How Louisiana Compares With Nearby States
The South states closest to Louisiana on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on Louisiana
Louisiana dashboard
→Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in Louisiana
→Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to Louisiana
→IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
Louisiana Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in Louisiana?
$217,039 is the typical Louisiana home value according to the latest Zillow Research release of the Zillow Home Value Index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $244,967 and the median list price $263,833. That makes Louisiana the #48 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in Louisiana?
No. The typical Louisiana home value rose 2.1% over the past year, though it remains 4.9% below its July 2022 peak of $228,238. Over five years it is up 1.1% and over ten years up 17.2%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have Louisiana home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
+2.1% over one year, +1.1% over five years and +17.2% over ten years for the typical Louisiana home value, per the latest Zillow Research release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical Louisiana home is up 94%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the Louisiana housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical Louisiana home value is 4.9% below its July 2022 peak of $228,238 after it rose 2.1% over the past year; 24.7% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 80 days (national 53), and inventory is down 3.2% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in Zillow's monthly series for Louisiana was 6.9% from July 2022 to September 2025, and values have not yet regained that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in Louisiana?
The Louisiana market is warm right now, which means it slightly favors sellers: one of the three market signals points cooler than the national market. 24.7% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 80 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is down 3.2% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $64,285 of income, $8,869 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is Louisiana a buyer's or seller's market?
Louisiana leans toward sellers. Fewer listings are cutting prices than the national average (24.7% vs. 26.4%), homes take 80 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is down 3.2% from a year ago at 19K listings. One of those three signals points toward buyers.
What is the average rent in Louisiana?
In New Orleans, Louisiana's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $1,598 a month, up 1.4% over the past year and up 18.0% over five years, per the Zillow Observed Rent Index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among Louisiana cities we track, rents range from $1,120 to $2,109 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Louisiana?
Buying is cheaper month to month in New Orleans, Louisiana's largest metro. Typical rent is $1,598 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $1,343, a difference of $255 a month in favor of buying. The payment excludes property tax (0.55% of value in Louisiana), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in Louisiana?
About $64,285 a year, using Zillow's assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median Louisiana household earns $55,416, so the typical household is $8,869 short. That is the #17 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $1,117 equals 24.2% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in Louisiana?
Among the Louisiana cities we track with Zillow data, the most expensive typical home is in Prairieville ($338,080) and the cheapest in Shreveport ($148,292). Also at the top: Metairie ($328,021), Kenner ($269,861), and New Orleans ($243,781). The city table above lists every tracked Louisiana city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does Louisiana compare with nearby states?
In the South, the closest comparisons on price are Oklahoma ($223,261, up 2.8% in a year), Arkansas ($227,264, up 3.6% in a year), and Kentucky ($232,577, down 0.4% in a year). Louisiana's typical home is $217,039, up 2.1%. On affordability, Louisiana ranks #17 of 50 versus Oklahoma at #8, Arkansas at #10, and Kentucky at #3.
How current is the Louisiana housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →