Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town settled in 1934, now home to 1,593 people.
Port Sulphur’s best subject grades are an A+ for cost of living and an A for schools; its weakest is a D− for health. On cost of living, just 1 of Louisiana’s 253 towns do better. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Of the 163 Louisiana towns we compare, none has a lower peak summer temperature than Port Sulphur. Only 2 of Louisiana’s 254 towns score lower on history. Port Sulphur has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Port Sulphur beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| South Plaquemines Elementary School | PK–6 | 205 |
| Widest gap | Port Sulphur | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 31.9% | 18.1% |
Where Port Sulphur’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 Port Sulphur is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,255 in 1950, a peak of 3,523 in 1990, 1,677 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1935 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
Port Sulphur is unincorporated, so Plaquemines 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 Port Sulphur.
Port Sulphur: 25% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. Among adults in the town, 20% have diabetes, against 16% in Louisiana’s towns and 12% across U.S. towns. 36% of adults in Port Sulphur worry about having enough food; 49% have high blood pressure.
| Port Sulphur | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 26% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 44% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 27% | 19% |
| What stands out | Port Sulphur | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 7.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 31.9% | 18.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its one school is below. Public schools: the Plaquemines Parish school district. Enrollment at Port Sulphur’s public school: 205 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Plaquemines Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 205 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
Employers in Port Sulphur shed 560 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 1,163. Most working residents leave Port Sulphur for work: only 18% work in town. Also worth knowing: among residents locally, 11% live below the poverty line, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. The average trip to work here is 27 minutes.
| Port Sulphur | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1988, Port Sulphur has seen 428 flood insurance claims paid out. Port Sulphur’s FEMA hazard score comes in at 91 of 100. FEMA puts 84% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes. Federal aid has come to Port Sulphur households in 8 declared disasters; the latest was in 2021.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The share of households in Port Sulphur who own their home: 89%. Typical home values fell 7% in the year to September 2026.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Winters in Port Sulphur are warm and summers warm, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 47° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Count the trails in 1 park or preserve and they come to 1.0 miles. In Port Sulphur, the concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. This Louisiana town has one park or preserve, 8 acres in all.
| Port Sulphur | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plaquemines Park Project Port Sulphur | 0.2 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Port Sulphur; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Port Sulphur residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
Place in Louisiana, United States
Port Sulphur is an unincorporated community on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the community as a census-designated place (CDP) which at the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,677.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Port Sulphur.
| Town | LA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Sulphur | — | — | A+ | — | A | D− |
| Empire | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Port Sulphur has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Port Sulphur reports no FBI crime data of its own. Empire isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Port Sulphur with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.
2 notable people were born here, including Rodney Bartholomew and Bradley Sylve.