St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Eviction Risk: Low

St. John the Baptist Parish carries a county average eviction-risk score of 3/10 (Low), but that headline number tells only part of the story for landlords weighing this market. Across the parish's 5 incorporated places, scores range from 2.6 to 3.1, a spread that reflects meaningfully different operating conditions block by block. Positioned at rank 7 of 64 parishes statewide, St. John the Baptist sits in the higher-risk third of Louisiana eviction laws, meaning only 6 parishes carry greater landlord exposure and 57 are less risky. That context matters when underwriting a deal or setting vacancy reserves.

With an average rent of $1,319 and a rent-burden rate of 33.9%, a meaningful share of the parish's renter households is spending more than a third of income on housing. Renter households make up just 22.4% of the total occupied units, so the rental market is relatively thin, which can cut both ways: less competition for tenants, but a smaller pool to draw from when a unit turns over.

The cities inside St. John the Baptist Parish

Laplace leads the parish in risk at 3.1/10, edging ahead of Laplace (3.1/10), the parish's largest community at a population of 28,343. Reserve itself has a population of 7,791, making it the second-largest market in the parish. Both communities sit above the county average, and together they account for the overwhelming majority of the parish's rental inventory, so investors focused on multi-family or single-family rentals will find their risk profile shaped primarily by these two.

Garyville comes in at 2.6/10 (population 2,119) and Killona at 3.1/10 (population 188), while Garyville posts the lowest score in the parish at 2.6/10 (population 1,482). The gap between Reserve's 3.7 and Edgard's 2.9 is real, and underscores how hyper-local risk is inside a single parish boundary. Landlords who treat the county average as their operating benchmark may be surprised by what they find at the address level.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in St. John the Baptist Parish operates under Louisiana state law, specifically La. R.S. § 9:3251 et seq. (Louisiana eviction laws Lease Law). For non-payment of rent or a lease violation, the required notice period is 5 days. End-of-term, no-cause terminations require a 30-day notice. Louisiana eviction laws does not require just cause for non-renewal, and the state preempts local rent-control ordinances, so there is no rent cap to navigate here. Understanding the Louisiana eviction laws eviction process front to back matters in this parish because even an uncontested case takes 14 to 30 days to resolve, while a contested matter can run 30 to 90 days.

On the cost side, Louisiana eviction costs add up quickly. Court filing fees run $170 to $300, sheriff lockout fees add another $50 to $175, and attorney fees range from $500 to $3,000 depending on complexity. Louisiana security deposit limits and Louisiana tenant protections are both governed at the state level with no local overlay, which provides some predictability for investors managing across multiple parishes.

With a parish-wide poverty rate of 12.9% and renters concentrated almost entirely in Laplace and Reserve, the risk picture here is narrow but consequential; the city grid above breaks down exactly where within the parish each score lands.