Louisiana’s Best Small Town? Think Fowl and Facial Hair

(KMDL-FM) According to the United States Census Bureau, there are more than 200 towns in Louisiana that are defined as small towns. Towns like Carencro, Crowley, Henderson, Delcambre, and St Martinville would be considered those who count the population as small towns.

Around Louisiana, most of our communities are small. It's the kind of lifestyle that most of us have chosen for our families. Judging by the stream of cars driving into Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans every day, it's a safe bet that we might choose to work in a larger community, but when it comes to the life we've chosen to raise our family, we have a decided lean toward smaller communities.

What Are The Best Small Towns in the South?

The folks at  USA TODAY, the "Nation's Newspaper" since 1982, pay homage to small towns every year as part of their Readers' Choice Awards. Among the awards they hand out is a nod for Best Small Town in the South. They recently published the results of their 2025 survey, and let's just say there were some surprises.

For example, the town taking the top spot on the USA Today list was a town that is often defamed and defiled for being boring. It is a place with a Southeastern Conference University, but after that, your reasons for knowing anything about this town fall off rather quickly.

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If it weren't for that university, I don't think any of us would even be aware of Starkville, Mississippi, home of Mississippi State University. I grew up there, so I can be as disparaging as I want to be. And while Starkville was a great place to grow up. It was an even better place to move away from.

What Town is The Best Small Town in the South?

Still, the readers of USA TODAY found something they liked about "Stark Vegas", and that's how it was chosen as the number one small town in the south. I do agree that on football Saturday's Starkville is hopping. But on most other days, it's not worth a postcard or even an Instagram photo. Maybe I am too close to the situation to be objective.

So, if Starkville is number one, then what about the rest of the list? What other towns earned an accolade from USA TODAY? The town coming in at number two is Lewisburg, West Virginia. That is followed by Inverness, Florida.  Two towns I know very little about.

However, the town that came in at number four on the USA TODAY list, I do know a little something about. That town was featured for years as part of a popular television show. If I recall, it also has a high school football team when quite an impressive record when it comes to winning state championships.

Louisiana Town Honored as One of "Best Small Towns in the South"

One other clue before I reveal the town to you. Some of the town's most famous residents are best known because of their facial hair. No, I am not talking about any women from Lafourche Parish. I am speaking of the Duck Dynasty guys from USA TODAY's number four Small Town in the South, West Monroe, Louisiana.

All kidding aside, West Monroe does feature a vibrant shopping scene, okay, a vibrant small town shopping scene, and it's home to more than 100 different shops and restaurants. It's also close to some great hunting and fishing for those who enjoy that. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that some of Louisiana's most interesting Airbnb locations are close by, too. 

To be honest, I think the egregious error in the USA TODAY Best Small Towns in the South list is putting Starkville at number one. I am okay with West Monroe making the top five. However, in my personal opinion and the opinions of several others I spoke with if given a choice to visit West Monroe, Louisiana or Orange Beach, Alabama, I found no one who would choose West Monroe over the Redneck Riviera.

Orange Beach was number ten on the list. Other cities that were included in the Reader's Choice list from USA TODAY included Clemson, South Carolina, Safety Harbor, Florida, and Cocoa Beach, Florida. You can read the full list right here. 

And kudos to all the small towns that earned a spot on the list, and even more kudos to the small towns that don't need USA TODAY to tell them how incredible they are. Maybe this year, for your summer time travel, instead of going big, maybe you should consider going small. You'll find better prices, better food, friendlier people and probably a few attractions that you could never find in a big city setting.

Congratulations, West Monroe, one day I will come visit. But it probably won't happen until they open the new Buc-ee's in Ruston.