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Moving to
Chalmette.
Chalmette is an unincorporated community in St. Bernard Parish, LA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.
What it's like to live in Chalmette
Chalmette is an unincorporated community in Louisiana with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Chalmette deals with household incomes below the national average, commute times longer than most cities, college degree attainment below the national average, and a population that has been shrinking.
The good
- Rent below the national average
- Affordable home prices
- Low student-teacher ratio
The not so good
- Below-average household incomes
- Above-average commute times
- Low college degree attainment
- Shrinking population
- High poverty rate
- High rent burden for renters
How Chalmette compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Chalmette
Based on Chalmette's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$2,220
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $44,400 a year
- 53% of Chalmette renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$42,940
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $21,470
- Homes cost 3.9× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▼ 21% below US
$1,110/mo median rent
Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,110 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $214,700. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.
Median home value $214,700 · 53% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
4.7% county unemployment
Unemployment in St. Bernard Parish is 4.7%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
St. Bernard Parish (county-wide)
Safety
465 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Chalmette doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 1593/100k · Policed by St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting around▲ 13% above US
29 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 29.3 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 9% 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 45°F. It's a wet climate overall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Healthcare
1 hospital
There's one Medicare-certified hospital inside city limits, rated 4.0 out of 5 by Medicare. Hospitals in neighboring towns aren't counted here.
Medicare-certified hospitals
Education & workforce▼ 62% below US
14% 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
5 public schools inside the boundary
There are 5 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (6 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Chalmette's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,110/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.
Other places near Chalmette
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