Tangipahoa Parish

Tangipahoa Parish sits at a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0712, which translates to a gross yield just above 7.1%. The modeled cap rate comes in at 4.63%, a figure that reflects the gap between that gross yield and the real-world weight of operating expenses. At a 6.85% mortgage rate on a 20% down purchase, the fully-loaded monthly picture produces negative cash flow of roughly $307 and a cash-on-cash return of -7.22%. That's a meaningful deficit, and investors need to stare at it honestly before proceeding. Home price appreciation ran at 1.04% year-over-year, which places this parish firmly in the middle ground, leaning toward the cash-flow end of the spectrum but not delivering clean cash-flow numbers at today's rates. The affordability index of 82 signals that the market is priced accessibly by national standards, which matters for tenant demand but doesn't by itself fix the financing math.

The investor profile this market best suits is someone operating in one of two lanes. The first is a value-add or below-market buyer who can source deals at a meaningful discount to the $221,760 median, enough to shift the cap rate upward from 4.63% and get the cash-on-cash return out of negative territory. At full retail with conventional financing, the numbers don't pencil for a pure cash-flow buyer without creative structuring, a larger down payment, or seller financing. The second profile is a long-horizon hold investor who accepts the current cash drag, believes in demographic-driven appreciation from the university market, and is underwriting a total return rather than a first-year income story. What this market is not suited for is a leveraged, stabilized cash-flow strategy at prevailing purchase prices and interest rates. The 71 cash-flow score sounds relatively decent until you see that the raw model still produces a $307 monthly deficit, which points to the score being relative to national norms rather than an endorsement of the absolute numbers.

Tangipahoa Parish is home to Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, the parish seat, which acts as a consistent anchor for rental demand. University towns tend to produce tenant pools that cycle reliably, and Hammond's position along Interstate 12 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge gives the parish secondary exposure to the employment and commercial activity of both metro areas. That corridor dynamic matters for underwriting rental demand: workers priced out of Baton Rouge or New Orleans have an incentive to rent in Hammond and commute, which supports the $1,315 median rent at the given price point.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate of $224 is already baked into the $460 estimated expenses figure in the model. Worth noting separately: Louisiana's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.55% is flagged as low, and at $1,220 in annual taxes on a $221,760 purchase, it's a genuine tailwind relative to markets where tax alone runs $4,000-$6,000 annually. The caveat the data itself carries is important, that 0.55% is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual parish and township rates in Tangipahoa can differ. Run the assessor's actual millage before closing. Insurance at 0.66% annually, or $122 per month, reflects Louisiana's elevated coastal exposure risk profile; while Tangipahoa is inland, Louisiana insurers price state-wide risk into premiums. That $1,464 annual insurance figure deserves scrutiny in the current Louisiana homeowners insurance market, where carrier withdrawals have pushed actual quoted rates above state averages in many parishes.

The stability score of 50 is the number that warrants the most investor attention. A score at the median on stability suggests concentration risk in a single institutional employer, sensitivity to enrollment cycles, and limited economic diversification outside the university and the I-12 service corridor. An investor underwriting this market should pressure-test what rent absorption looks like during enrollment contractions. There is no vacancy data provided here to quantify that risk precisely, but the score signals it is real.

Comparing to neighboring parishes, Tangipahoa's 0.0712 rent-to-price ratio outperforms West Baton Rouge Parish at 0.0630, and comes close to Ascension Parish's 0.0698, while both of those neighbors carry higher median home prices, $249,157 and $303,167 respectively. Ascension scores 64 overall versus Tangipahoa's 65, so there is no compelling reason to pay $80,000 more in median price for a marginally lower yield. Lafourche Parish at a 0.0830 ratio and $178,251 median price, and Webster Parish at a 0.0959 ratio and $120,915 median, both offer better raw yield optics at lower entry points, though they carry their own economic concentration and demographic considerations. The case for choosing Tangipahoa over its neighbors comes down to the university anchor and the I-12 corridor: investors who want a market with built-in institutional rental demand and reasonable proximity to two major Louisiana metros will find the parish defensible. Investors who want the best headline yield number should look at Lafourche or Webster first, with appropriate due diligence on what's driving those higher ratios.