The 50 Best Places To Live In Louisiana

Louisiana is a great place to live. Ask anyone who already lives here, and more than likely they will say its the BEST place to live. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and you can throw a rock and hit a festival on just about any given weekend. But where is THE best place to live in Louisiana?

Most people think about New Orleans when they hear Louisiana, but just because the Big Easy is our most famous city doesn't necessarily make it the best city when it comes to choosing a place to live. Louisiana is full of cities and towns that embody our overall amazing culture, but each one is unique in their own way.

The folks over at the Movoto real estate blog came up with a list based on seven measurable criteria, broken down into 13 sub-criteria.

• Total amenities
• Quality of life (Cost of living, Median home price, Median rent price, Median household income, Teacher per student ratio)
• Total crime
• Tax rates (Sales tax, Income tax)
• Unemployment rate
• Commute time
• Weather (Temperature, Air quality)

Once they got that information, they coupled it with U.S. census data for 108 places in Louisiana with populations over 5,000, and averaged their rankings for an overall score  - giving us a list of the top 50 cities.

The city of Lafayette nearly cracks the top 10 at #11, as the largest place on the list (approx. population 123,000) by far. The Hub City clearly outshined the rest when it came to its low unemployment rate (4.7%); and for all those working people, the short 23 minute commute time isn't half bad either.

Youngsville rounded out the top 15 as the safest place to live in the entire state, with only 881 crimes per 100,000 people. Being part of Lafayette parish, the small city also benefitted from the aforementioned low unemployment rate, in addition to a median household income ($67,147) and a high median home price ($206,000).

(Broussard came in right behind Youngsville at #16, but that's no surprise being that they are literally neighbors that share a lot of the same qualities and amenities.)

The crown jewel of Acadiana on the list was Scott, LA. The city "where the west begins" came in second only to the Inniswold neighborhood in Baton Rouge, LA as the best place to live in the state. Scott boasted low unemployment (again, Lafayette Parish), great weather and air quality; not to mention, one of the lowest costs of living on the list.

Where did your city or town rank on the list? Do you agree with it? Sound off in the comments and tell us what YOU think!

No matter where your city ranks, I think we can all agree - Louisiana is a great place to call home.

[via Movoto]