Jefferson Parish vs Lafayette Parish

A side-by-side comparison of Jefferson Parish and Lafayette Parish: population, income, housing, and more.

Jefferson Parish and Lafayette Parish are counties in Louisiana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Jefferson Parish has the higher population (432,484 vs 245,075 in Lafayette Parish). Lafayette Parish has the higher median household income ($67,660 vs $65,246 in Jefferson Parish). Jefferson Parish has the higher median home value ($243,500 vs $234,200 in Lafayette Parish).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
Population	432,484	245,075
Median age	39.9 yrs	36.4 yrs
Median household income	$65,246	$67,660
Median home value	$243,500	$234,200
Median gross rent	$1,162	$1,022
Housing units	194,109	110,400
Homeownership rate	62.3%	66.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.9%	34.9%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	5.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
Population	434,850 → 432,484 (-0.5%)	241,973 → 245,075 (+1.3%)
Median household income	$54,032 → $65,246 (+20.8%)	$56,999 → $67,660 (+18.7%)
Median home value	$188,200 → $243,500 (+29.4%)	$185,300 → $234,200 (+26.4%)
Median gross rent	$972 → $1,162 (+19.5%)	$874 → $1,022 (+16.9%)

Jefferson Parish

Population

434,850432,484

Median household income

$54,032$65,246

Median home value

$188,200$243,500

Median gross rent

$972$1,162

Lafayette Parish

Population

241,973245,075

Median household income

$56,999$67,660

Median home value

$185,300$234,200

Median gross rent

$874$1,022

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
Under 5	6.3%	6.6%
5 to 17	16.1%	17.5%
18 to 24	7.4%	8.1%
25 to 34	13.6%	15.2%
35 to 44	13.1%	14.2%
45 to 54	11.8%	11.6%
55 to 64	13.6%	12.3%
65 to 74	10.9%	9.1%
75 and over	7.2%	5.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
White (non-Hispanic)	48.1%	62.5%
Black or African American	25.6%	25.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	4.1%	1.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.6%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.2%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	18.2%	6.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
No high school diploma	13.4%	10.1%
High school graduate	27.7%	28.9%
Some college or associate's	28.9%	26.1%
Bachelor's degree	19.0%	24.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.0%	10.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
Drove alone	77.3%	81.8%
Carpooled	11.2%	5.4%
Public transit	0.9%	0.6%
Walked	1.7%	1.7%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	7.4%	9.1%
Other means	1.3%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
1-unit, detached	65.1%	67.8%
1-unit, attached	4.2%	2.2%
2 to 4 units	10.0%	5.5%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	8.8%
20 or more units	9.0%	5.4%
Mobile home & other	1.8%	10.3%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson Parish	Lafayette Parish
Poverty rate	16.3%	17.4%
Average household size	2.43	2.43
Mean commute (minutes)	24	23
Median year structure built	1975	1988