Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,210, settled in 1873. A regional job hub with 5,151 jobs.
Leesville gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $168K for a typical one, or 2.9 years of the county’s $57K median household income. It grades C overall, ranked 79th of 161 in Louisiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and the median household income is $38K, and 34% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, its public schools beat 89% of Louisiana towns on state tests and graduation. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in Leesville, against 20% in Louisiana’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Leesville has 10 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Burr's Ferry Bridge and Vernon Parish Courthouse. Only 14 of Louisiana’s 255 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Leesville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| West Leesville Elementary School | K–4 | 643 |
| Leesville Junior High School | 7–8 | 421 |
| Vernon Middle School | 5–6 | 372 |
Census counts: 1,148 in 1900, a peak of 9,054 in 1980, 5,649 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1941 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Louisiana), ordered by how far Leesville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Leesville, 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 Leesville.
Leesville pairs an A for schools with modest home prices, draws workers from New Llano and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Against the 1,735 U.S. towns with household incomes like Leesville’s, it is less healthy than 82%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Louisiana it is less healthy than 72% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
46% of Leesville adults sleep under 7 hours. Leesville beats the Louisiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 38% of Leesville adults get no exercise outside work.
| Leesville | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 42% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 26% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 27% | 19% |
| What stands out | Leesville | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 30.9% | 22.5% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 15.4% | 11.3% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 16.8% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $168K.
Its public schools are run by the Vernon Parish school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Leesville High School, with 748 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Leesville Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 643 | B− |
| Leesville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 748 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
5,151 jobs are based in Leesville, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.7 minutes, against 25.7 across Louisiana.
About one in 4 of Leesville’s working residents works in town. Leesville’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. The top destinations are DeRidder (5%), Alexandria (4%) and Lake Charles (4%).
| Leesville | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $38,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 4.1% | 5.6% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
4.7 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Leesville City Park, at 52 acres.
| Leesville | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Leesville City Park | 0.3 mi | 52 |
| 2. Dogwood Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
| 3. Jubilee Park | 0.3 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $231, against $1,180 across Louisiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
45% of households own their home in Leesville. The typical Leesville home is worth about $168,000, up 3.6% in a year, 21% below the Louisiana typical home. The median rent in Leesville is $894 a month.
| Leesville | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 45% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $894 a month | $992 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 59% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Leesville has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 38° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 48 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Leesville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Only 44.5% of households own their home, against 67.4% across Louisiana.
Adults 18 to 34 are 28% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (37% statewide). Leesville has lost 8% of its people since 2020, down to 5,210 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 19% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 27% across Louisiana.
| Leesville | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.3 years | 37.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 19% | 20% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 24% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Louisiana, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Leesville | LA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.3% | 12.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.5% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.6% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.1% | 11.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.9% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.4% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 15.5% | 12.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 35.1% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.8% | 20.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.8% | 7.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 11.9% | 17% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.9% | 10.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
None within 15 miles of Leesville; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Leesville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
6,612 counted in 2010 and 5,649 in 2020; an estimated 5,210 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 8% since 2020, after 14.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
10 places in Leesville on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Leesville.
City in Louisiana, United States
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,649 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South micropolitan area and is additionally served by the Leesville Airport. The city is home to the Fort Polk (known as Fort Johnson from 2023-2025) U.S. Army installation.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Leesville.
| Town | LA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leesville | #79 | C | B+ | — | A | D− |
| New Llano | — | — | A− | — | A | D |
| Fort Johnson South | — | — | — | — | — | — |
New Llano has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Leesville and New Llano report no FBI crime data of their own. Fort Johnson South isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Leesville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Leesville grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #79 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades D− for health and A for schools. Health 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 B+.
11 notable people were born here, including Demond Mallet and Buddy Leach.
