What it's like to live in Carencro
Carencro is a small city in Louisiana with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, county unemployment below the national average, and a population that has grown fast since 2020. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Carencro deals with commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, college degree attainment below the national average, and a poverty rate above the national average.
The good
- Rent below the national average
- Affordable home prices
- Low unemployment in the county
- Fast-growing population
- Average class sizes
The not so good
- Above-average commute times
- Air quality concerns
- Low college degree attainment
- High poverty rate
- High rent burden for renters
- Hot summers
How Carencro compares
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Carencro
Based on Carencro's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$1,888
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $37,760 a year
- 53% of Carencro renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$42,960
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $21,480
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▼ 33% below US
$944/mo median rent
Rent here is genuinely low, with median rent around $944 a month. Money stretches further here than in most of the country. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $214,800. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.
Median home value $214,800 · 53% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
3.6% county unemployment
Unemployment in Lafayette Parish is 3.6%, a little below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Lafayette Parish (county-wide)
Safety▲ 15% above US
379 violent crimes per 100k
Crime runs about typical for a city this size. Some neighborhoods are safer than others, and one overall rate doesn't tell the whole story, so a neighborhood-level look matters more than the headline stat.
Property crime 1589/100k · Carencro Police Department · 2025 data
Getting around▲ 16% above US
30 min average commute
Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.2 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 15% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 91°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 43°F. It's a wet climate overall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 56% below US
16% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
3 public schools inside the boundary
There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, close to the national average of 16:1.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Natchez National Historical Park (94 miles away).
Bottom line
Carencro's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are commute times longer than most cities and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. It tends to suit people watching their budget and remote workers (15% of workers here already work from home).
Other places near Carencro
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