Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rayne gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $171K, 2.8 years of the Lafayette metro’s $61K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 49th of 161 graded towns in Louisiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. On the plus side, its public schools beat 77% of Louisiana towns on state tests and graduation. Rayne has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Joseph D. Bernard House and Emile L. Jr. Daboval House. Among 54 Louisiana towns, just 1 have a lower violent crime rate than Rayne. Rayne is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns.
Where Rayne beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| South Rayne Elementary School | 4–5 | 219 |
| Central Rayne Kindergarten School | PK–K | 173 |
| Rayne Catholic Elementary | PK–8 | 221 |
| Widest gap | Rayne | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 34.9% | 18.1% |
Where Rayne’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 Rayne is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 569 in 1890, 7,236 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1946 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rayne, 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 Rayne.
Rayne pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Rayne beats the Louisiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 37% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Rayne, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 27% and U.S. towns at 19%. 26% of adults smoke cigarettes in Rayne.
| Rayne | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 27% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rayne | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 34.9% | 18.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 14.7% | 8.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 36.7% | 22.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $171K.
Its public schools are run by the Acadia Parish school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Rayne High School, with 653 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 304 | C+ |
| Rayne High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 653 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
140 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 24 properties have flooded more than once.
At 88 of 100, Rayne’s FEMA risk score is against 88 of 100 in Louisiana’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Since 1978, 140 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rayne.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Rayne for work: only 11% work in town. 26% of Rayne residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Rayne has lost 79 jobs, to 1,484 in 2023.
| Rayne | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 26% | 20% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 9.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 42°, milder than in 95% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 91.6°.
Rayne has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Rayne is 42°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Rayne | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 42°F | 42°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 92°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median property tax bill is $392, against $1,180 across Louisiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 6.3% in the year to September 2026. Rayne’s median rent is $828 a month.
| Rayne | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $828 a month | $992 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Rayne's reported crime rate is well below Louisiana's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 5 violent crimes were reported in 2024.
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
The biggest park or preserve is Gossen Memorial Park, at 73 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gossen Memorial Park | — | 73 |
| 2. Southside Community Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Rayne
About 3 of every 100 Rayne residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Louisiana.
10 notable people were born in Rayne.
City in Louisiana, United States
Rayne is a town in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is in an agricultural area where rice and sugarcane have been grown. With a population of 7,326 at the 2020 United States census, it is nicknamed the "Frog Capital of the World", as well as the "Louisiana City of Murals". Rayne is part of the Crowley micropolitan statistical area, and within the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area in Acadiana.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rayne grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #49 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 A−.
10 notable people were born here, including Johnnie Allan and Jo-El Sonnier.