Most Densely Populated Cities in Louisiana: Ranked by People per Square Mile
The densest city in Louisiana in our data is Terrytown, LA, with about 6,806 people per square mile, followed by Timberlane, LA (6,617) and Metairie, LA (6,110). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 117 Louisiana communities with at least 5,000 residents.
What are the top 50 in Louisiana?
| # | City | County | Per sq mi | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terrytown, LA | Jefferson Parish | 6,806 | 24,953 |
| 2 | Timberlane, LA | Jefferson Parish | 6,617 | 9,950 |
| 3 | Metairie, LA | Jefferson Parish | 6,110 | 142,135 |
| 4 | River Ridge, LA | Jefferson Parish | 4,768 | 13,337 |
| 5 | Harahan, LA | Jefferson Parish | 4,597 | 9,250 |
| 6 | Kenner, LA | Jefferson Parish | 4,457 | 66,340 |
| 7 | Gretna, LA | Jefferson Parish | 4,372 | 17,647 |
| 8 | Marrero, LA | Jefferson Parish | 4,289 | 30,894 |
| 9 | Jefferson, LA | Jefferson Parish | 3,877 | 10,501 |
| 10 | Estelle, LA | Jefferson Parish | 3,872 | 17,968 |
| 11 | Gardere, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 3,429 | 11,394 |
| 12 | Chalmette, LA | St. Bernard Parish | 3,323 | 23,851 |
| 13 | Village St. George, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 3,284 | 7,334 |
| 14 | Shenandoah, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 3,266 | 20,252 |
| 15 | Harvey, LA | Jefferson Parish | 3,245 | 21,054 |
| 16 | Woodmere, LA | Jefferson Parish | 2,784 | 10,173 |
| 17 | Oak Hills Place, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 2,673 | 8,326 |
| 18 | Westwego, LA | Jefferson Parish | 2,670 | 8,326 |
| 19 | Inniswold, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 2,660 | 5,963 |
| 20 | Bayou Cane, LA | Terrebonne Parish | 2,642 | 20,093 |
| 21 | New Iberia, LA | Iberia Parish | 2,554 | 28,454 |
| 22 | Baton Rouge, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 2,546 | 570,308 |
| 23 | Eden Isle, LA | St. Tammany Parish | 2,432 | 7,365 |
| 24 | Tallulah, LA | Madison Parish | 2,393 | 8,346 |
| 25 | Thibodaux, LA | Lafourche Parish | 2,352 | 14,425 |
| 26 | New Orleans, LA | Orleans Parish | 2,302 | 1,020,886 |
| 27 | Patterson, LA | St. Mary Parish | 2,295 | 5,792 |
| 28 | Lafayette, LA | Lafayette Parish | 2,271 | 264,357 |
| 29 | Houma, LA | Terrebonne Parish | 2,264 | 140,469 |
| 30 | Jeanerette, LA | Iberia Parish | 2,258 | 6,303 |
| 31 | Plaquemine, LA | Iberville Parish | 2,238 | 6,539 |
| 32 | Donaldsonville, LA | Ascension Parish | 2,227 | 16,540 |
| 33 | Old Jefferson, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 2,176 | 7,659 |
| 34 | Crowley, LA | Acadia Parish | 2,150 | 14,147 |
| 35 | Rayne, LA | Acadia Parish | 2,106 | 9,431 |
| 36 | Merrydale, LA | East Baton Rouge Parish | 2,098 | 8,903 |
| 37 | Opelousas, LA | St. Landry Parish | 2,007 | 24,423 |
| 38 | Abbeville, LA | Vermilion Parish | 1,989 | 19,470 |
| 39 | Ferriday, LA | Concordia Parish | 1,966 | 5,412 |
| 40 | Eunice, LA | St. Landry Parish | 1,909 | 11,269 |
| 41 | Destrehan, LA | St. Charles Parish | 1,909 | 11,398 |
| 42 | St. Martinville, LA | St. Martin Parish | 1,883 | 6,872 |
| 43 | Waggaman, LA | Jefferson Parish | 1,818 | 10,017 |
| 44 | Slidell, LA | St. Tammany Parish | 1,800 | 93,040 |
| 45 | Morgan City, LA | St. Mary Parish | 1,795 | 27,728 |
| 46 | Sulphur, LA | Calcasieu Parish | 1,787 | 20,065 |
| 47 | Ville Platte, LA | Evangeline Parish | 1,751 | 8,829 |
| 48 | Mandeville, LA | St. Tammany Parish | 1,751 | 95,968 |
| 49 | Lake Charles, LA | Calcasieu Parish | 1,746 | 156,181 |
| 50 | Shreveport, LA | Caddo Parish | 1,740 | 280,062 |
How dense are the cities in Louisiana?
The densest place is about 4 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 1,544 people per square mile. At the other end, Chackbay, LA has about 186. Under our scale, 3 places are an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 82 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Jefferson Parish contributes 14 of the top 50.
Which counties do the top 50 belong to?
The 50 places on this list are spread across 22 counties of Louisiana. Jefferson Parish has 14 (Terrytown, Timberlane, Metairie, River Ridge, Harahan, Kenner, Gretna, Marrero, Jefferson,); East Baton Rouge Parish has 8 (Gardere, Village St. George, Shenandoah, Oak Hills Place, Inniswold, Baton Rouge, Old Jeff); St. Tammany Parish has 3 (Eden Isle, Slidell, Mandeville). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.
How does Louisiana compare with the rest of the country?
The median Louisiana place with a page has about 10,698 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is smaller than the national typical place. Terrytown, LA ranks 1928th among all US places by estimated population in our data. The state has 474 communities in total, of which 117 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.
Quick answers about Louisiana cities
- Which is the densest city in Louisiana? Terrytown (6,806 per square mile).
- How many Louisiana cities have more than 100,000 people? 8 in our data.
- How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 13.
- What is the typical size? About 10,698 residents for a place with a page.
How is this ranking made?
The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.
Where to go next
Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.