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

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Lafayette Parish · Lafayette · population 122,280

First-time buyers
Lafayette, LA
Image: Wikipedia · Lafayette, Louisiana
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
53
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Lafayette stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $225,222
1-year +1.7%
5-yr CAGR +1.5%
vs 5-yr peak -3.1%
Population +0.2%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-11$225k$184k$204k$223k$242k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
30/100
Minimal transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
74/100
Strong remote-work fit
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
$1,321/mo$1,010$1,205$1,400202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent108123100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 14.2
Buy

At a 14.2 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Lafayette on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.2 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
58 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
44 · w22%
Distance from peak
71 · w18%
Population growth
49 · w16%
Rent YoY
56 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
31 · w10%
Long thesis

Lafayette has held up across the cycle: home values at $225,222 with +1.5% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Lafayette's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Lafayette

Lafayette is a city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated population of 122,280. The median home value in Lafayette is $225,222 as of 2026-04, up 1.7% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.5% annual growth (-3.1% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Lafayette average $1,321 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+1.6%). The composite momentum score is 53 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

○The data is the data: Lafayette has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Stagnant long-run trend: +0.8% 10-year CAGR plus flat population — appreciation case is weak.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Lafayette (Wikipedia)

Lafayette is the most populous city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth-most populous city with a 2020 census population of 121,374; the consolidated city-parish's population was 241,753 in 2020. The Lafayette metropolitan area was Louisiana's third largest metropolitan statistical area with a population of 478,384 at the 2020 census. The Acadiana region containing Lafayette is the largest population and economic corridor between Houston, Texas and New Orleans.

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

City facts

MayorMonique Blanco-Boulet (R)
Area56.00 sq mi
Elevation23 ft
Founded1821 as Vermilionville
NicknameThe Hub City
MottoThe Heart of Cajun Country
Density2170.57/sq mi
Named forGeneral Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
Time zoneCST

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

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 Lafayette Parish right now.

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

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

Cities like Lafayette

Ruston, LA61 · StableAlexandria, LA49 · StableBaton Rouge, LA54 · StablePonchatoula, LA54 · Stable

Run the numbers for Lafayette

ToolCan I afford Lafayette?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Lafayette rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Lafayette to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolLafayette 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette 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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