re: U.S. News 2017 Best Places to Live - #63 Baton Rouge #95 New Orleans

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In the midst of a post-Hurricane Katrina renaissance, New Orleans charms visitors and locals alike with its music, diverse cuisine and a stubborn refusal to abandon its cultural traditions. But what is truly wonderful about the Big Easy lies at its heart, beyond the casual tourist's swaying Mardi Gras beads and late-night strolls down Bourbon Street. The residents of New Orleans are infused with a resilient and welcoming spirit that celebrates eccentricity, draws out the timid and steadfastly resists outside influences that seek to homogenize them.

Living in New Orleans isn't quite like it is portrayed in television shows and movies. New Orleans residents generally don't speak with Southern or Cajun accents, and Carnival parades are not debauched flesh-baring spectacles but rather family-friendly community celebrations. New Orleanians are, however, excellent hosts who are proud to show off their region.

The metro area can be frustrating and even forbidding due to infrastructure and crime issues, but those who have spent any time living under its spell find the thought of resettling in a region where Mardi Gras is just another Tuesday unbearable.

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1,239,697
METRO POPULATION

$43,360
AVERAGE ANNUAL SALARY

78.2° / 61.1°
AVG HIGH/LOW TEMPS

37.4
MEDIAN AGE

$188,497
MEDIAN HOME PRICE

62.5 inches
AVG ANNUAL RAINFALL

5.6%
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

$916
AVG MONTHLY RENT

25.5 minutes
AVG COMMUTE TIME

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The cost of living in New Orleans is roughly on par with the national average, although home prices and rental costs have risen steeply in recent years. Since Hurricane Katrina, home prices have jumped 46 percent. Lower-income and historic neighborhoods, like St. Roch and Treme, have experienced gentrification. Also, increasingly scarce housing has driven up rents in the metro area and priced out many working-class residents.

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New Orleans is a metro region where it seems like everyone knows everyone; the area has one of the highest percentages (73.2 percent) of "homegrown" residents in the country. The population of New Orleans has risen steadily in recent years, nearly returning to pre-Hurricane Katrina numbers.

On average, the population in New Orleans is slightly older, with a fair number of residents approaching or having already arrived at middle age. More than 60 percent of New Orleans households qualify as family households, and more than 40 percent of those include children 18 or younger.

Politically, the metro area is an island of blue in a red state, voting heavily Democratic in recent presidential elections, while the Republican candidate won the rest of Louisiana.

Nearly 30 percent of the New Orleans population lives below the poverty line. Over a third of New Orleans children live in poverty. That rate has climbed since Hurricane Katrina, a rise experts blame primarily on the low wages parents earn.

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New Orleans

The worst in the ranking was San Juan, Modesto, Stockton, Bakersfield, Fresno, and New Orleans.