St. Helena Parish, Louisiana Eviction Risk: Low

St. Helena Parish carries an average eviction-risk score of 3.1/10 (Low), but that headline understates what landlords actually face on the ground. Across the parish's 3 cities, individual scores run from 2.9 to 3.3, a range that, while narrow, reflects meaningfully different operating environments within a small rural market. Louisiana's state laws set the legal floor for all of them, and understanding both the parish average and the city-level spread is essential before committing capital here.

At rank 18 of 64 Louisiana parishes, St. Helena Parish sits in the higher-risk third of the state, with 17 parishes scoring worse and 46 scoring better. A poverty rate of 48.9% and a rent burden of 32.6% signal genuine financial stress among renters, which tends to translate into collections pressure and higher eviction frequency even when scores look moderate. Average rent of $535 also leaves little margin for extended vacancies or contested proceedings.

The cities inside St. Helena Parish

Tangipahoa carries the parish's highest risk score at 3.3/10, with a population of 522. Montpelier follows closely at 3.2/10 across a smaller renter base of 206 residents. Both cities sit above the parish average and deserve tighter tenant screening and reserves planning from any landlord operating there. The elevated poverty rates in these communities, consistent with the parish-wide 48.9% figure, mean the probability of a payment disruption is higher than the risk score alone might suggest.

Greensburg, the parish seat and largest city at 994 residents, scores the lowest at 2.9/10, making it the most stable operating environment in St. Helena Parish. The difference between Greensburg at 2.9 and Tangipahoa at 3.3 may look small in absolute terms, but at a parish this size, that gap is hyper-local and real. Investors who treat the three cities as interchangeable will underestimate risk in the smaller communities.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in St. Helena Parish operates under Louisiana state law, specifically La. R.S. § 9:3251 et seq. (Louisiana Lease Law). For non-payment of rent or a lease violation, the required notice period is 5 days. A no-cause end-of-term notice requires 30 days. Louisiana does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, and the state preempts local rent control, so no parish or city in Louisiana can impose a rent cap. Understanding the full Louisiana eviction process is critical because even uncontested cases run 14 to 30 days from filing to judgment, while contested proceedings can take 30 to 90 days.

On the cost side, the Louisiana eviction costs stack up quickly: court filing fees run $170 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add $50 to $175, and attorney fees range from $500 to $3,000 depending on complexity. Source-of-income discrimination is not a protected class under Louisiana state law, giving landlords screening flexibility. Landlords should also review Louisiana security deposit limits and Louisiana tenant protections to ensure compliance before placing tenants in any St. Helena Parish unit, since the Louisiana Attorney General's Consumer Protection division handles fair housing enforcement statewide.

With 46% of residents renting and a poverty rate of 48.9%, St. Helena Parish carries real collections risk beneath its Low overall score; the city-by-city breakdown above shows where that risk concentrates most.