Alexandria, LA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Louisiana·Alexandria

Rapides Parish · Alexandria · population 43,133

AffordabilityShrinkingRenter-friendly
Alexandria, LA
Image: Wikipedia · Alexandria, Louisiana
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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49
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Alexandria stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 1.2% per year.

Median home $142,254
1-year +0.3%
5-yr CAGR +0.7%
vs 5-yr peak -0.3%
Population -1.2%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-02$142k$108k$121k$135k$148k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
60/100
Workable for remote workers
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,146/mo$1,019$1,130$1,24120242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent10510610020242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 10.3
Buy

At a 10.3 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Alexandria on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 10.3 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
52 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
39 · w22%
Distance from peak
88 · w18%
Population growth
27 · w16%
Rent YoY
38 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
40 · w10%
Long thesis

Alexandria has held up across the cycle: home values at $142,254 with +0.7% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Alexandria's population is shrinking 1.2% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Alexandria

Alexandria is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated population of 43,133. The population has contracted 1.2% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Alexandria is $142,254 as of 2026-04, up 0.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +0.7% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Alexandria average $1,146 per month, down 1.4% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 49 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.3% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
●Cheap entry point: $142,254 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.

▼ Bear case

●Net out-migration: population shrinking 1.2% per year — services, schools, and tax base will follow.
●Stagnant long-run trend: +2.0% 10-year CAGR plus flat population — appreciation case is weak.

About Alexandria (Wikipedia)

Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of and the largest city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes. Its neighboring city is Pineville. As of the 2020 census, Alexandria had a population of 45,275.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Rapides Parish right now.

NWS active alerts (LA)Louisiana Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Rapides Parish routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Alexandria

Pineville, LA51 · StableNatchitoches, LA38 · CoolingThibodaux, LA45 · CoolingShreveport, LA48 · Stable

Run the numbers for Alexandria

ToolCan I afford Alexandria?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Alexandria rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Alexandria to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolAlexandria cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
61° / 43°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
91° / 74°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
217
~59% of year
Annual precip
60″ rain
0″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very high
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Very high

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Alexandria listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Alexandria area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
75%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$57,800
Louisiana state median
Top industries (state-level)
Oil & GasTourismShipping/Petrochemicals

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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