Evangeline Parish

Evangeline Parish sits at a median home price of $115,919, making it one of the most affordable entry points in Louisiana and placing it at a perfect 100 on the affordability index. The price decline of 1.67% year-over-year is a flag worth watching, not a catastrophe, but it does confirm this is not an appreciation play. The data does not include a cap rate or cash-on-cash figure, and the cashFlow score comes in at zero, which tells you the rent-to-price math either pencils only marginally or depends heavily on how you structure the deal and what you pay for management. Without a populated rent figure for this county, investors need to do local rent-comp legwork before building a pro forma. What the numbers do confirm is that at $115,919 you are buying at a price where even modest rents can produce workable yields, and the affordability score of 100 out of 100 means acquisition cost is not your constraint here.

This market is most naturally suited to a cash-flow buyer who is willing to accept slow or flat appreciation in exchange for a low basis, and to a value-add operator who can manufacture equity and force yield through renovation rather than relying on market tailwinds. The appreciation score of 42 and the year-over-year price decline make it a poor fit for a buy-and-appreciate strategy. A stability score of 50 is middle-of-the-road, suggesting neither a deeply distressed market nor a particularly insulated one. If you can acquire at or below the median and bring rents up through unit improvements in a market where competing landlords are often offering unrenovated stock, the low entry price creates room for that strategy. Investors who need price growth to make their return targets work should look elsewhere.

The combined monthly tax and insurance burden on a median-priced asset here runs $117 per month, which is genuinely low relative to most markets and is one of the more meaningful tailwinds in the carry-cost story. Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.55%, which the data flags as low, and that translates to roughly $638 annually on this asset. Insurance runs approximately $765 annually, which in a Gulf Coast state is actually not punishing at this price point, though investors should underwrite their own quote because coastal and storm-exposure factors can push Louisiana insurance well above state averages depending on the property's specific location and age. The honest caveat here is that 0.55% is a state-average estimate and your actual parish or municipality rate may differ, so verify with the Evangeline Parish assessor before you close. Still, even with that caveat, the combined $117 monthly carry on taxes and insurance is a real structural advantage compared to markets where that line alone runs $300 to $500 per month.

The population of 32,335 is small, and that is the central risk. A thin tenant pool means vacancy from even one or two units can move your portfolio-level occupancy in a way that doesn't happen in a larger metro. The market's national rank of 316 out of 1,000 and state rank of 16 out of 64 are respectable but not exceptional, and a small, rural Louisiana parish carries concentration risk: if a major local employer contracts, rental demand contracts with it. The data does not include economic anchors for Evangeline Parish, so specific employer exposure cannot be assessed here, but any serious investor underwriting this market should spend time identifying the top three to five employers in the parish before committing capital.

Looking at the neighboring parishes puts Evangeline's positioning in sharp relief. Lafayette Parish, at a median of $230,132 and a rent-to-price ratio of 7.15%, offers a much larger tenant base and a functioning rental market with visible rent data, at roughly double the acquisition cost. Rapides Parish comes in at $165,369 with a rent-to-price ratio of 7.05%, giving you a slightly larger market and some rent visibility at a more accessible price than Lafayette. Plaquemines Parish carries a rent-to-price ratio of 7.67%, the highest in this peer group, but at a $266,075 median it requires meaningfully more capital deployed per door. All three of those parishes share the same overall score of 62 with Evangeline, meaning the scoring model does not give you a quality advantage for the extra capital. Where Evangeline wins is purely on purchase price: at $115,919 you can acquire two doors for roughly what one door costs in Lafayette. The trade-off is liquidity, tenant pool depth, and appreciation potential. Choose Evangeline over its neighbors if your strategy is maximum units per dollar deployed, you have local property management dialed in, and you are prepared to hold through a flat price environment without depending on exit appreciation to make your return.