Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,619, settled in 1916. Public schools that outperform most of Louisiana.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Overall it grades C, 66th among Louisiana's 161 graded towns. Its schools rank ahead of 87% of Louisiana towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $294K for a typical one and 4.7 times the New Orleans metro’s $63K median household income. Destrehan has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Destrehan Plantation and Ormond Plantation House. Only 9 of the 161 Louisiana towns we compare have a higher share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Destrehan.
Where Destrehan beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| New Sarpy Elementary School | PK–2 | 417 |
| Ethel Schoeffner Elementary School | 3–5 | 381 |
| St. Charles Borromeo School | PK–7 | 450 |
Where Destrehan’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Louisiana), ordered by how far Destrehan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,382 in 1980, 11,340 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1938 and 7 maps from 1891 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Destrehan. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaCaesars Superdome
Big draw21 mi LakeLake Pontchartrain
17 mi MuseumNational World War II Museum707K visitors a year
18 mi MuseumWhitney Plantation Historic District
16 mi City parkCity Park
12 mi National Historical ParkJean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve227K visitors a yearCaesars Superdome: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Pontchartrain: Mersh13, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National World War II Museum: Nolabob, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Whitney Plantation Historic District: Bill Leiser, CC BY-SA 4.0 · City Park: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY 2.5 · Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve: No machine-readable author provided. Jan Kronsell assumed (based on copyright cl, CC BY-SA 3.0
Destrehan is unincorporated, so St. Charles Parish and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Destrehan.
Destrehan has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and has less tooth loss than most of Louisiana, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Flood insurance has paid out on 2,055 claims in Destrehan since 1978. FEMA puts 63% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 23% to inland flooding. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Destrehan after 6 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The public schools here belong to the St. Charles Parish school district. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The largest public high school is Destrehan High School, with 1,435 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry M. Hurst Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 685 | A− |
| Destrehan High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,435 | A− |
| Ethel Schoeffner Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 381 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
73.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 54.8% across Louisiana. The median property tax bill is $1,900, against $1,180 across Louisiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Destrehan home is worth about $294,000, up 1% in a year, 38% above the Louisiana typical home. The town’s midpoint rent stands at $1,257 a month. Homes sold in Destrehan spent a median 130 days on the market.
| Destrehan | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,257 a month | $989 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
In Destrehan, 17% of residents live below the poverty line, against 20% in Louisiana’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Only 5% of working residents stay in Destrehan for work; the rest commute out. Its mean commuting time comes in at 27 minutes. The top destinations are New Orleans (15%), Metairie (11%) and Kenner (8%).
| Destrehan | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $91,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.9% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 43.6°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.7°.
The January low for Destrehan comes to 44°F, close to Louisiana’s towns (42°F) and above U.S. towns (22°F). In Destrehan, the midsummer high is 92°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| Destrehan | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 44°F | 42°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 92°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its widest gap with Louisiana is tooth loss: 8.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 18.1% statewide. Within Louisiana it is healthier than 88% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
82% of adults had a checkup this year in Destrehan. Among 161 Louisiana towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who feel lonely than Destrehan. In Destrehan, 18% of adults binge drink, and 15% worry about having enough food.
| Destrehan | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 26% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 44% | 35% |
| What stands out | Destrehan | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.6% | 18.1% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 15% | 22.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails run 0.7 miles in 2 parks and preserves. Destrehan’s trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Destrehan | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.8% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eastbank Bridge Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 2. Ormond Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
6 within 15 miles of the center of Destrehan
About 4 of every 100 Destrehan residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
2 places in Destrehan on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Louisiana, United States
Destrehan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. Destrehan is part of the New Orleans—Metairie—Kenner metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Destrehan.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Luling (C+) is closest.
| Town | LA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destrehan | #66 | C | C− | — | A | B− |
| Luling | #47 | C+ | C | — | A | B− |
| New Sarpy | — | — | A+ | — | A | C− |
| St. Rose | #30 | B− | C+ | — | A | C |
| Hahnville | #13 | B | B+ | — | A | D |
New Sarpy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Destrehan, Luling, New Sarpy, St. Rose and Hahnville report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Destrehan with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Destrehan grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #66 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades B− for health and A for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
2 notable people were born here, including Donovan Isom and Rusty Rebowe.
