Orleans Parish vs St. Tammany Parish

A side-by-side comparison of Orleans Parish and St. Tammany Parish: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Orleans Parish has the higher population (376,035 vs 269,331 in St. Tammany Parish). St. Tammany Parish has the higher median household income ($79,277 vs $55,339 in Orleans Parish). Orleans Parish has the higher median home value ($296,400 vs $272,200 in St. Tammany Parish).

Population, income & housing

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
Population	376,035	269,331
Median age	38.4 yrs	40.4 yrs
Median household income	$55,339	$79,277
Median home value	$296,400	$272,200
Median gross rent	$1,211	$1,305
Housing units	194,758	112,414
Homeownership rate	50.5%	78.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	42.0%	36.6%
Unemployment rate	7.8%	4.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
Population	390,845 → 376,035 (-3.8%)	255,155 → 269,331 (+5.6%)
Median household income	$41,604 → $55,339 (+33.0%)	$68,905 → $79,277 (+15.1%)
Median home value	$231,500 → $296,400 (+28.0%)	$218,500 → $272,200 (+24.6%)
Median gross rent	$998 → $1,211 (+21.3%)	$1,086 → $1,305 (+20.2%)

Orleans Parish

Population

390,845376,035

Median household income

$41,604$55,339

Median home value

$231,500$296,400

Median gross rent

$998$1,211

St. Tammany Parish

Population

255,155269,331

Median household income

$68,905$79,277

Median home value

$218,500$272,200

Median gross rent

$1,086$1,305

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
Under 5	5.5%	5.8%
5 to 17	14.2%	18.0%
18 to 24	8.9%	7.6%
25 to 34	15.7%	11.2%
35 to 44	14.9%	13.3%
45 to 54	11.5%	12.5%
55 to 64	12.8%	13.6%
65 to 74	10.4%	11.1%
75 and over	6.1%	6.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
White (non-Hispanic)	30.1%	73.3%
Black or African American	54.7%	12.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	2.8%	1.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.3%
Some other race	0.8%	0.8%
Two or more races	3.5%	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino	7.9%	7.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
No high school diploma	10.9%	8.6%
High school graduate	21.3%	24.0%
Some college or associate's	25.9%	30.8%
Bachelor's degree	22.5%	23.7%
Graduate or professional degree	19.4%	12.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
Drove alone	63.2%	77.4%
Carpooled	8.7%	7.6%
Public transit	4.5%	0.1%
Walked	5.6%	0.8%
Bicycle	1.9%	0.1%
Worked from home	13.7%	12.4%
Other means	2.3%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
1-unit, detached	45.8%	77.4%
1-unit, attached	10.0%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	22.9%	4.2%
5 to 19 units	8.4%	4.9%
20 or more units	12.4%	4.2%
Mobile home & other	0.5%	6.8%

Poverty & households

	Orleans Parish	St. Tammany Parish
Poverty rate	22.6%	12.2%
Average household size	2.34	2.58
Mean commute (minutes)	23	31
Median year structure built	1959	1995