Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
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−, 106th among Louisiana's 161 graded towns. Its public schools beat 83% of Louisiana towns on state tests and graduation. Its weakest subject is health: residents are less healthy than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Haaswood Store is on the National Register of Historic Places. Among 161 Louisiana towns, just 9 have a higher average trip to work than Pearl River. The biggest park or preserve is Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area, at 43 acres.
Where Pearl River beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside Elementary School | 1–5 | 420 |
| Little Pearl Elementary School | PK–K | 98 |
| Creekside Junior High | 6–8 | 447 |
Haaswood StoreEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Louisiana), ordered by how far Pearl River is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 277 in 1910, 2,565 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and a map from 1982 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pearl River, 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 Pearl River.
Pearl River has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns and looks healthier within Louisiana than nationally, but it has little public open land.
Within Louisiana it is healthier than 53% of the 161 graded towns: much of Louisiana scores lower on these measures.
28% of Pearl River adults have been diagnosed with depression, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 27% and U.S. towns at 23%. 17% of Pearl River adults report frequent physical distress. Pearl River beats the Louisiana average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 20% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pearl River | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 10.4% | 12.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 14.3% | 16.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.3% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the St. Tammany Parish school district. The largest public high school is Pearl River High School, with 781 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creekside Junior HighLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 447 | B− |
| Pearl River High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 781 | B− |
| Riverside Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 1–5 | Grades 1–5 | 420 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
Since 1980, 30 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pearl River.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 41.1°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.1°.
Pearl River has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Pearl River’s January low is 41°F, near the Louisiana town median (42°F) and above the median of U.S. towns (22°F). Pearl River’s July high is 91°F.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 41°F | 42°F | 22°F |
| July high | 91°F | 92°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Children under 18 are 30% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (37% statewide). The median age in Pearl River is 33.8 years. Pearl River has grown 6.6% since 2020, to 2,715 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.8 years | 37.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 20% | 20% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 17% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±6.6 points. Across Louisiana, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Pearl River | LA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 22.4% | 12.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.8% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.9% | 13.3% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.7% | 11.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.1% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.5% | 10.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.5% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 15.1% | 12.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.3% | 20.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 7.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.3% | 17% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 10.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,700, single groups can be off by several points
The average commute for its 1,015 working residents takes 33.4 minutes, against 25.7 across Louisiana. Jobs based here grew from 485 in 2013 to 1,261.
Most working residents leave Pearl River for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Pearl River grew to 1,261 in 2023, 776 more than in 2013. 18% of residents live below the poverty line in Pearl River.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Pearl River's reported crime rate is below Louisiana's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 12 violent crimes were reported in 2022.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2022) | 13.1 per 1,000 residents | 28.3 | 14.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2022) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 5.4 | 1.9 |
FBI crime data, 2022 · crimes reported to police
76.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 54.8% across Louisiana. The median property tax bill is $1,871, against $1,180 across Louisiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Pearl River home is worth about $233,000, up 0.8% in a year, 9% above the Louisiana typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Just 50 of its 2,469 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Pearl River itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Pearl River | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area | — | 43 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Pearl River
About 3 of every 100 Pearl River residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
Town in Louisiana, United States
Pearl River is a town in St. Tammany Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 U.S. census, and 2,618 at the 2020 population estimates program. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pearl River grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #106 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades D for health and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.9 years of the area's median household income ($81,202 across the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA metro 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−.