Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,229, settled in 1910.
Jena gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $156K for a typical one, or 2.3 years of the county’s $68K median household income. It grades A overall, 1st among Louisiana's 161 graded towns. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 86% of Louisiana towns. Jena’s average trip to work is 36 minutes, against 24 minutes in Louisiana’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Only 24 of Louisiana’s 254 towns score higher on health. Carter-Carraway House and Breithaupt-Moseley House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Jena beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Jena Elementary School | PK–2 | 381 |
| Temple Christian Academy | PK–8 | 123 |
| Jena Junior High School | 6–8 | 288 |
3,398 counted in 2010 and 4,155 in 2020; an estimated 4,229 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Louisiana), ordered by how far Jena is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 689 in 1910, 4,155 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1936 and 3 maps from 1941 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jena, and how to reach them.
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 Jena.
Jena pairs an A overall with homes cheaper than the Louisiana norm, pairs an A for schools with modest home prices and carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Louisiana (mostly inland flooding).
1,915 jobs are based in Jena, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 36.4 minutes, against 25.7 across Louisiana.
About one in 4 of Jena’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Jena grew to 1,915 in 2023, 459 more than in 2013. 11% of Jena residents live below the poverty line.
| Jena | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A for schools comes with an A+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $156K.
Its public schools are run by the LaSalle Parish school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Jena High School, with 490 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jena Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 381 | – |
| Jena High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 490 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
| Jena | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jena grades A overall with a typical home of about $156K, below the Louisiana typical value; only 1 of the 4 Louisiana towns graded A− or better can say that. At 2.3 years of the county’s $68K median household income, the typical home (about $156K) costs less against local pay than in 80% of Louisiana towns; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living.
81% of households own their home in Jena. The typical Jena home is worth about $156,000, up 2.5% in a year, 27% below the Louisiana typical home. Jena’s median rent is $906 a month.
| Jena | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 81% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $906 a month | $992 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Jena weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 238 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 88% of Louisiana places with climate records.
Jena has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Jena is 92°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
22% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 27% across Louisiana.
| Jena | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.7 years | 37.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 26% | 24% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 22% | 20% | 29% |
45% women, 55% men
About 124 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±5 points). Across Louisiana, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.1, men 34.3.
| Jena | LA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.2% | 12.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.3% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10% | 11.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6.8% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.7% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.3% | 12.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.5% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.8% | 20.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.6% | 7.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 11.9% | 17% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.9% | 10.1% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,200, single groups can be off by several points
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 74% of Louisiana towns; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1987, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Jena.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Louisiana it is healthier than 88% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
Only 2 of the 161 Louisiana towns we compare have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Jena. Jena beats the Louisiana average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. Only 4 of the 161 Louisiana towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Jena.
| Jena | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 16% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 9.8% | 8.1% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 44% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 16% | 12% |
| What stands out | Jena | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3% | 4.3% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13% | 18.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.5% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Jena; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Jena residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
Where Jena’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 notable people were born in Jena.
Town in Louisiana, United States
Jena () is a town in, and the parish seat of, La Salle Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,155 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Jena.
Jena reports no FBI crime data of its own. Midway and Good Pine aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Jena with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Jena grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #1 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades B− for health and A for schools.
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+.
5 notable people were born here, including Woodie Flowers and Ben F. Holt.
