About one in six people in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, lives below the poverty line
In Lafayette Parish, 16.5% of people lived below the poverty line. That is higher than in 72% of U.S. counties.
More distressed than 64% of U.S. counties.
What drives Lafayette Parish's score
In Lafayette Parish, collections and bankruptcy weighs most: the score for collections and bankruptcy is 71.2. Housing costs come next, at 64.3.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette Parish does better than most counties on two measures: people with a disability (12.5%, 2020 to 2024) and unemployment rate, average over the latest year (3.7%, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 71.2 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collector28.4% · August 202569th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people193 · 202572nd percentile
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- 64.3 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 rent25.5% · 2020 to 202488th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.8% · fiscal year 202740th percentile
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- 62.8 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025; credit scores, second quarter of 2026
- People with a credit card behind5.8% · August 202556th percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behind7.0% · August 202572nd percentile
- People with a subprime credit score42.8% · second quarter of 202659th percentile
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- 54.3 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line16.5% · 202473rd percentile
- Children below the poverty line21.4% · 202470th percentile
- People with a disability12.5% · 2020 to 202418th percentile
- People without health insurance8.7% · 2020 to 202457th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$66,072 · 202452nd percentile
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- 42.6 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year3.7% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202637th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working20.3% · 2020 to 202447th 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette Parish, 14.7% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Lafayette Parish
Louisiana
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
Benefit checks' share of income in Lafayette Parish had its largest rise, from 12.4% in 2014 to 17.9% in 2019.
In Lafayette Parish, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 18.8% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in about three times as much as benefit checks
In Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 18.8%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Lafayette Parish getting SNAP food aid rose from 2009 to 2024, reaching 12.5%, with most of the change between 2019 and 2020
High on the chart: 12.6% 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, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.
How Lafayette Parish has changed
Lafayette Parish's population more than doubled to 254,241, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1979 to 1984, reaching 167,800. Residents, yearly estimate, every fifth year and 2024, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.
The jobs count covers work located in the county; the population count covers residents.
The number of jobs located in Lafayette Parish nearly doubled to 139,145, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 1995 to 2000, reaching 113,925. Yearly average of jobs covered by unemployment insurance, every fifth year and 2025, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.2% | 2025 3.6% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 17.0% | 2024 16.5% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $25,400 | 2024 $66,072 |
The table uses 3.6% for 2025; the score uses 3.7% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Lafayette Parish's history
1988
A tornado in March 1988 did $25 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2012
A flash flood in March 2012 did $164 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2016
A flash flood in August 2016 did $400 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2016
A flood in August 2016 did $700 million in property damage. NOAA Storm Events Database
2020
The county's largest recorded population was the 2020 Census count of 241,753, which is also its most recent census. Census Bureau
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Since 1965
43 federal disaster and emergency declarations have covered Lafayette Parish, 8 of them for flooding. FEMA
Lafayette Parish beside its neighbors
All five counties that border Lafayette Parish score higher than it does. Of the group, Lafayette Parish gets the smallest share of its income from benefit checks; St. Landry Parish gets the largest, at 36.3%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Landry Parish, LA | 96 | 24.5% | 36.3% |
| Iberia Parish, LA | 93 | 22.6% | 32.2% |
| Acadia Parish, LA | 85 | 20.9% | 32.0% |
| St. Martin Parish, LA | 77 | 16.7% | 29.2% |
| Vermilion Parish, LA | 73 | 22.4% | 28.2% |
| Lafayette Parish, LA | 64 | 16.5% | 18.8% |
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 Lafayette Parish the poorest county in Louisiana?
No, Lafayette Parish's poverty rate was 16.5% in 2024, 51st highest 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, Lafayette Parish ranks 54th of 64 in the state.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Lafayette 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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Lafayette Consolidated Government Neighborhood Counseling Services
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Saint Martin, Iberia, Lafayette Community Action Agency
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Step UP Acadiana
HUD-approved housing counselor
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Acadiana Legal Service Corporation
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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette Parish comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.