Orleans Parish, Louisiana Eviction Risk: Low

Orleans Parish carries an average eviction risk score of 3.7/10 (Low), placing it at rank 1 of 64 parishes in Louisiana, meaning no other parish in the state scores higher. Landlords and investors operating here face conditions that sit meaningfully above the statewide norm: a renter share of 48.8% of households, an average rent burden of 35.9%, and a poverty rate of 22.6% all compound the baseline exposure to non-payment and contested evictions.

The intra-county score range of 2.3 to 3.7 across the parish's 2 cities signals that risk is not uniform. At the higher end, conditions in the parish's dominant urban core tighten margins considerably; at the lower end, smaller outlying communities pull the floor down. Investors making asset-level decisions need city-specific data, not just the parish average.

The cities inside Orleans Parish

New Orleans is the undisputed risk center of the parish, scoring 3.7/10 and accounting for virtually the entire population of 371,853 residents. That score, combined with average rent of $1,251 per month and a renter majority in the city, means non-payment risk is real and consistent. Contested evictions here can stretch timelines substantially, and landlords should budget accordingly.

Delacroix, the only other city in the parish, scores 2.3/10, a materially lower risk profile, though its population of just 17 people makes it a negligible factor in any portfolio-level analysis. The gap between 3.7 and 5.6 within a single parish illustrates precisely why risk analysis must be hyper-local rather than averaged across a county.

State-level laws that apply here

Under Louisiana state law, specifically La. R.S. § 9:3251 et seq. (Louisiana Lease Law), landlords must give 5 days notice for non-payment of rent and 5 days for a lease violation cure opportunity. End-of-term or no-cause terminations require 30 days notice. Louisiana imposes no just-cause requirement for evictions and the state preempts local rent control, so New Orleans eviction risk cannot impose its own rent cap. An uncontested eviction typically resolves in 14 to 30 days; a contested case can run 30 to 90 days. The Louisiana eviction process costs landlords a court filing fee of $170 to $300, a sheriff lockout fee of $50 to $175, and attorney fees ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on complexity.

For a full breakdown of what landlords can expect to spend, see Louisiana eviction costs; for rules on what landlords can and cannot require of tenants statewide, Louisiana tenant protections covers the key statutes and limitations.

With a poverty rate of 22.6% and nearly half of all households renting, the parish's risk fundamentals are among the most demanding in the state; the city grid above breaks down each municipality's individual score so you can calibrate decisions at the asset level.