In Ascension Parish, Louisiana, rent on a two-bedroom takes about one in seven dollars of the typical household's income
In Ascension Parish, 14.7% of the typical household's income would go to rent on a two-bedroom. That is lower than in 97% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 65% of U.S. counties.
What drives Ascension Parish's score
In Ascension Parish, late payments on loans are the highest-scoring part, at 66.5. Income and the safety net is the lowest part, at 20.4. The typical household earns $93,654 a year (2024), more than in 91% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Ascension Parish: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Even so, Ascension Parish is worse off than most counties on people with a car or retail loan behind (7.6%, August 2025).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 66.5 of 100
Late payments
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind6.7% · August 202569th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind7.6% · August 202579th percentile
- People with a subprime credit score40.5% · second quarter of 202651st percentile
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- 62.8 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Credit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector26.2% · August 202561st percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people162.6 · 202564th percentile
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- 29.3 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202634th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working16.4% · 2020 to 202423rd percentile
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- 26.0 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent18.1% · 2020 to 202449th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income14.7% · fiscal year 20272nd percentile
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- 20.4 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line9.5% · 202418th percentile
- Children below the poverty line12.7% · 202426th percentile
- People with a disability12.1% · 2020 to 202415th percentile
- People without health insurance6.2% · 2020 to 202433rd percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$93,654 · 20248th percentile
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Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Ascension Parish comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Ascension Parish, 12.9% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Ascension Parish
Louisiana
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Ascension Parish, benefit checks' share of income has doubled since 1969, reaching 16.6% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about four times as much as benefit checks
In Ascension Parish, Louisiana, benefit checks' share of income doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 16.6%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
The share of households in Ascension Parish getting SNAP food aid fell most sharply after its 2010 high, from 13.0% in 2010 to 11.7% in 2011.
The share of households in Ascension Parish getting SNAP food aid fell to its lowest on the chart in 2020, then climbed past the 2009 level
Low on the chart: 9.8% in 2020. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
How Ascension Parish has changed
Ascension Parish's population had its largest rise, from 86,352 in 2004 to 105,172 in 2009.
Ascension Parish's population grew to about four times its 1969 size in 2024, reaching 133,534, with no dip in any year shown
Smallest rise: 1984 to 1989, reaching 57,585. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Ascension Parish more than doubled to 50,437, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2010 to 2015, reaching 45,071. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 6.5% | 2025 3.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 15.6% | 2024 9.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $28,403 | 2024 $93,654 |
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Ascension Parish's history
1807
Parish created in 1807. Wikipedia
1863
Abraham Lincoln mentioned Ascension Parish in the Emancipation Proclamation as a confederate parish. Wikipedia
1920
Tens of thousands of African Americans left the rural South during the Great Migration, resulting in Ascension Parish losing more than 16% of its population. Wikipedia
1976
A tornado in January 1976 did $2.5 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2014
A flash flood in May 2014 killed one person. NOAA Storm Events Database
2016
A flash flood in August 2016 did $460 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2016
A flood in August 2016 did $1.07 billion in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 126,500, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1965
58 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Ascension Parish, 17 of them for flooding. FEMA
Ascension Parish beside its neighbors
All six counties that border Ascension Parish score higher than it does. Of the group, Ascension Parish gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; St. John the Baptist Parish gets the largest, at 29.9%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John the Baptist Parish, LA | 98 | 19.0% | 29.9% |
| East Baton Rouge Parish, LA | 85 | 22.2% | 18.9% |
| Assumption Parish, LA | 82 | 20.1% | 23.3% |
| Iberville Parish, LA | 80 | 21.5% | 26.8% |
| St. James Parish, LA | 77 | 15.7% | 22.2% |
| Livingston Parish, LA | 58 | 12.2% | 21.5% |
| Ascension Parish, LA | 34 | 9.5% | 16.6% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Ascension Parish the poorest county in Louisiana?
No, Ascension Parish's poverty rate was 9.5% in 2024, the lowest of 64 in Louisiana (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is East Carroll Parish, at 44.4%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Ascension Parish ranks 64th of 64 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Ascension Parish
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
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Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
Legal aid
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HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Ascension Parish · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Ascension Parish comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.