Moving to
Harvey.

All Harvey data Compare Harvey

20,915people live here $48,774median household income▼ 40% below US $1,190median rent per month▼ 16% below US $200,100median home value▼ 40% below US

Harvey is an unincorporated community in Jefferson 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 Harvey

Harvey is an unincorporated community in Louisiana with rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Harvey deals with household incomes below the national average, commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The good

Rent below the national average
Affordable home prices

The not so good

Below-average household incomes
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High student-teacher ratio
High poverty rate

How Harvey compares

Median household income

Harvey$48,774

Louisiana avg$60,756

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Harvey$1,190

Louisiana avg$1,064

US$1,413

Median home value

Harvey$200,100

Louisiana avg$216,500

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Harvey

Based on Harvey's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,380

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $47,600 a year
61% of Harvey renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$40,020

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $20,010
Homes cost 4.1× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▼ 16% below US

$1,190/mo median rent

Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,190 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $200,100. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $200,100 · 61% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Jefferson Parish is 4.0%, 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.

Jefferson Parish (county-wide)

Safety

263 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Harvey doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1921/100k · Policed by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 10% above US

29 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 28.7 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.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

78%

Carpool

10%

Work from home

4.1%

Public transit

3.1%

Walk

2.7%

Other

1.9%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 91°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 47°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 47% below US

19% 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 21:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (4 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Harvey'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 ($1,190/mo) equals 29% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget.

See all the data for Harvey →·All Louisiana cities →