Moving to
Waggaman.

11,330people live here $1,510median rent per monthNear US average $170,400median home value▼ 49% below US

Waggaman 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 Waggaman

Waggaman is an unincorporated community in Louisiana with home prices that remain within reach, a growing population, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Waggaman 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

Affordable home prices
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 Waggaman compares

Median rent (per month)

Waggaman$1,510

Louisiana avg$1,064

US$1,413

Median home value

Waggaman$170,400

Louisiana avg$216,500

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Waggaman

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

To rent

$3,020

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $60,400 a year
68% of Waggaman renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$34,080

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $17,040

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,510/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,510 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $170,400. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $170,400 · 68% 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

Waggaman 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▲ 14% above US

30 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 29.7 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; 6% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

79%

Carpool

12%

Work from home

6.4%

Other

1.1%

Walk

0.7%

Public transit

0.4%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 93°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 49°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 50% below US

18% 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

1 public school inside the boundary

There is 1 public school inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, close to 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 Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (8 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Waggaman's strongest points are home prices that remain within reach and a growing population; the main tradeoffs are commute times longer than most cities and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

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