128 years in pictures
Census counts: 4,260 in 1990, 5,518 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2004 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
- 1898Gray is settled
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.

Today 5,154 people live in this town, first settled in 1898.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Health is its weak spot: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 94% of the country. Gray grades C overall and ranks 68th of 161 in Louisiana. Nationally, it does better than nearly a third of U.S. towns. Incomes are weaker too (C−): the median household income is $55K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Its strongest is cost of living: a typical home costs about $233K, 3.6 years of the Houma metro’s $64K median household income. The town has 2 places on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Gray beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Gray’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 Gray is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,260 in 1990, 5,518 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2004 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
Gray is unincorporated, so Terrebonne 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 Gray.
Gray pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, draws workers from Bayou Cane and beyond and has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns.
Within Louisiana it is less healthy than 59% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
Just over four in five adults had a checkup this year in Gray, close to Louisiana’s towns (82%) and above U.S. towns (79%). The share of adults in Gray who report frequent mental distress: 21%. Also worth knowing: this Louisiana town does better than the Louisiana average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 3.
| Gray | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 42% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 34% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 26% | 14% |
| What stands out | Gray | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.5% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 26.1% | 22.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $233K.
The largest public high school is H. L. Bourgeois High School, with 1,289 students. Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Its public schools are run by the Terrebonne Parish school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evergreen Junior High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 622 | B− |
| H. L. Bourgeois High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,289 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
4,617 jobs are based in Gray, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 1,176 in 2013 to 4,617.
For most workers, Gray is a place to come home to: only 7% work in town. Jobs in Gray grew by 3,441 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 4,617. 15% of residents live below the poverty line here, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. The top destinations are Bayou Cane (17%), Thibodaux (7%) and Baton Rouge (3%).
| Gray | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.5% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Households in Gray have drawn federal disaster aid in 11 declared disasters, most recently in 2026. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 69% come from hurricanes and 10% from inland flooding. 74 flood insurance claims have been paid here since 1980.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Thibodaux 4 Se weather station, 5 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 311 days, longer than in 95% of U.S. towns. January nights average 44.2°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.3°.
In Gray, the midsummer high is 91°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Gray | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 44°F | 42°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 92°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
80% of households are owner-occupiers in Gray. Zillow values the typical Gray home at about $233,000, about the same as a year ago, 9% above the Louisiana typical home. On the market here: a median 50 days to sell.
| Gray | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,025 a month | $989 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Gray
About 3 of every 100 Gray residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
CDP in Louisiana, United States
Gray is a census-designated place (CDP) in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. The population was 5,518 in 2020. It is part of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Gray.
| Town | LA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | #68 | C | A− | — | A− | D |
| Bayou Blue | #96 | C− | B+ | — | A− | D |
| Schriever | #51 | C+ | B+ | — | A− | C− |
Gray, Bayou Blue and Schriever report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Gray with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gray grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #68 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades D for health and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.