Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,757, settled in 1860.
Morgan City earns a D, ranked 131st of 161 in Louisiana, mostly because of health and safety. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 96% of the country. Its crime rate is higher than 91% of U.S. towns, with 47 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. What it does well: its public schools beat 75% of Louisiana towns on state tests and graduation. 29% of working residents work locally in Morgan City, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 9.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 6 of Louisiana’s 152 towns score lower on civic life. Morgan City has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Mr. Charlie Offshore Oil Rig and Atkinson Memorial Presbyterian Church.
Where Morgan City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| M.E. Norman Elementary School | PK–5 | 335 |
| Wyandotte Elementary School | PK–5 | 300 |
| Julia B. Maitland School | PK–5 | 199 |
| Widest gap | Morgan City | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.9% | 8.9% |
Where Morgan City’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 Morgan City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Mr. Charlie Offshore Oil Rig is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 2,015 in 1880, a peak of 16,586 in 1970, 11,472 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1935 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Morgan City, 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 Morgan City.
Morgan City draws workers from Berwick and beyond, has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and looks healthier within Louisiana than nationally.
Within Louisiana it is less healthy than 66% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
38% of Morgan City adults feel lonely. In Morgan City, 21% of adults smoke cigarettes, and 17% have diabetes.
| Morgan City | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 44% | 35% |
| What stands out | Morgan City | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.9% | 8.9% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.6% | 18.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.6% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the St. Mary Parish school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The largest public high school is Morgan City High School, with 650 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan City Junior High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 412 | C+ |
| Morgan City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 650 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
6,989 jobs are based in Morgan City, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here fell from 8,744 in 2013 to 6,989.
The top destinations are Franklin (8%), Lafayette (4%) and Baton Rouge (4%). About one worker in three stays in Morgan City for work. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Morgan City dropped by 1,755, to 6,989. Among residents locally, 17% live below the poverty line.
| Morgan City | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 458 to 282 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate for Morgan City comes to 4.4 per 1,000 residents. Within Louisiana, it does better than nearly half of towns.
| Morgan City | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.4 per 1,000 residents | 4.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22 per 1,000 residents | 24.2 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
366 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 30 properties have flooded more than once.
Compared with 91% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Morgan City is higher. The national flood insurance program has paid 366 claims locally since 1978. Expected losses in Morgan City break down as 75% from hurricanes and 9% from tornadoes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Morgan City after 13 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical value, about $135K, is 12% below its March 2025 peak. The median property tax bill is $433, against $1,180 across Louisiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026. In Morgan City, 57% of households own their home. The town’s typical rent comes in at $917 a month.
| Morgan City | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $917 a month | $992 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 44.2°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 90.8°. The Morgan City weather station records that about 53 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 95% of Louisiana places with climate records.
In Morgan City, the January low is 44°F. It almost never snows.
| Morgan City | 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
The biggest park or preserve is Lake End Park, at 52 acres. There are 0.3 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves. Morgan City’s concentration of trails stands at 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Morgan City | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake End Park | — | 52 |
| 2. Brownell Memorial Park | — | 14 |
| 3. Jimmy Magee Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Morgan City; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Morgan City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
5 places in Morgan City on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Louisiana, United States
Morgan City is a city in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States, located in the Acadiana region. The population was 10,813 in the 2024 census. Morgan City sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Intracoastal Waterway. The town was originally named "Tiger Island" by surveyors appointed by U.S. Secretary of War John Calhoun, because of a particular type of wild cat seen in the area. It was later changed for a time to "Brashear City", named after Walter Brashear, a prominent Kentucky physician who had purchased large tracts of land and acquired numerous sugar mills in the area. It was incorporated in 1860. Morgan City, and all of St. Mary Parish, is include…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Morgan City.
| Town | LA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan City | #131 | D | B | D | A− | D− |
| Siracusaville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Siracusaville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Morgan City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Morgan City grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #131 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades D− for health, D for safety and A− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within Louisiana, it does better than 49% of towns.
That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($52,576 across the Morgan City, LA 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.
