New Iberia, LA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Louisiana·New Iberia

Iberia Parish · Lafayette · population 26,849

AffordabilityShrinking
New Iberia, LA
Image: Wikipedia · New Iberia, Louisiana
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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33
Cooling
Momentum score · 0–100

Where New Iberia stands

Population shrinking 1.5% per year.

Median home $148,904
1-year -0.3%
5-yr CAGR -1.9%
vs 5-yr peak -11.6%
Population -1.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2020-10$149k$131k$149k$167k$185k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
15/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
48/100
Marginal for remote
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 vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 9.6
Buy

At a 9.6 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in New Iberia on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 9.6 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
49 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
24 · w22%
Distance from peak
40 · w18%
Population growth
22 · w16%
Home 10-yr CAGR
27 · w10%
Long thesis

New Iberia has held up across the cycle: home values at $148,904 with -1.9% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

New Iberia's population is shrinking 1.5% 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 New Iberia

New Iberia is a city in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated population of 26,849. It anchors the Lafayette metro area. The population has contracted 1.5% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in New Iberia is $148,904 as of 2026-04, down 0.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged -1.9% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 12% below its 5-year peak. Rents in New Iberia average $1,295 per month. The composite momentum score is 33 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.

▲ Bull case

●Cheap entry point: $148,904 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.
○The data is the data: New Iberia has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Net out-migration: population shrinking 1.5% per year — services, schools, and tax base will follow.
●12% off recent peak — buyers are getting through-the-cycle pricing, not the peak.
●Stagnant long-run trend: +0.2% 10-year CAGR plus flat population — appreciation case is weak.

About New Iberia (Wikipedia)

New Iberia is the largest city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately 21 miles southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area in the region of Acadiana. The 2020 United States census tabulated a population of 28,555. New Iberia is served by Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, operating between Los Angeles and New Orleans. New Iberia has a major four lane highway, being U.S. 90, and has its own general aviation airfield, Acadiana Regional Airport. Scheduled passenger and cargo airline service is available via the nearby Lafayette Regional Airport located adjacent to U.S. 90 in Lafayette.

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

Playbook

Buyer

You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.

Seller

Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.

Investor

Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.

Local safety & alerts

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

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

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

Cities like New Iberia

Natchitoches, LA38 · CoolingThibodaux, LA45 · CoolingAbbeville, LA35 · CoolingAlexandria, LA49 · Stable

Run the numbers for New Iberia

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