Which Louisiana counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 64 Louisiana counties we have scored, Sabine Parish scores highest at 99 and Jefferson Parish lowest at 59. Louisiana ranks 24th of 50 overall, at 88 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 64 counties · 322 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsLouisiana ranks 24th of 50, 88 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #13 and #31. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below. Caveat for Louisiana: This state's rank could fall anywhere from #13 to #31 on a fresh draw of counties, so read its place loosely.

Every scored county in Louisiana, best score first

Find a county64 counties


Sabine Parish → 25 people / sq mi	99	25	20	14	15	15	10
Union Parish → 24 people / sq mi	97	23	20	14	15	15	10
Avoyelles Parish → 46 people / sq mi	96	25	19	14	15	14	9
Bienville Parish → 15 people / sq mi	96	25	20	14	14	13	10
Natchitoches Parish → 29 people / sq mi	96	24	20	14	14	14	10
Red River Parish → 19 people / sq mi	96	25	20	14	14	13	10
Grant Parish → 34 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	14	13	10
LaSalle Parish → 24 people / sq mi	95	25	20	14	12	14	10
Vernon Parish → 35 people / sq mi	95	25	20	14	13	13	10
Lincoln Parish → 102 people / sq mi	94	21	20	14	14	15	10
Ouachita Parish → 258 people / sq mi	94	21	20	14	14	15	10
Tangipahoa Parish → 175 people / sq mi	94	24	20	14	13	13	10
Caldwell Parish → 18 people / sq mi	93	23	20	14	13	13	10
East Carroll Parish → 16 people / sq mi	93	25	20	14	15	12	7
Pointe Coupee Parish → 36 people / sq mi	93	25	20	14	15	12	7
Rapides Parish → 95 people / sq mi	93	25	19	13	13	13	10
St. Helena Parish → 26 people / sq mi	93	23	19	14	13	14	10
West Feliciana Parish → 38 people / sq mi	93	25	16	14	14	14	10
Caddo Parish → 257 people / sq mi	92	25	20	14	11	13	9
Catahoula Parish → 12 people / sq mi	92	25	20	14	13	13	7
Jackson Parish → 26 people / sq mi	92	20	18	14	15	15	10
Allen Parish → 29 people / sq mi	91	24	20	13	14	13	7
Concordia Parish → 25 people / sq mi	91	25	19	14	14	12	7
De Soto Parish → 31 people / sq mi	91	23	18	14	13	13	10
East Feliciana Parish → 42 people / sq mi	91	23	19	14	14	14	7
Morehouse Parish → 30 people / sq mi	91	23	20	14	13	13	8
Richland Parish → 36 people / sq mi	91	23	20	14	14	13	7
Webster Parish → 59 people / sq mi	91	22	19	14	13	13	10
West Carroll Parish → 26 people / sq mi	91	23	20	14	14	13	7
Franklin Parish → 31 people / sq mi	90	23	20	14	13	13	7
Bossier Parish → 155 people / sq mi	89	25	18	14	12	13	7
Claiborne Parish → 18 people / sq mi	89	20	18	14	13	14	10
Evangeline Parish → 48 people / sq mi	89	24	20	13	12	13	7
Winn Parish → 14 people / sq mi	89	23	19	14	13	13	7
Beauregard Parish → 32 people / sq mi	88	23	19	14	10	14	8
Madison Parish → 15 people / sq mi	88	23	20	14	12	12	7
Washington Parish → 67 people / sq mi	88	25	19	14	10	14	6
Jefferson Davis Parish → 48 people / sq mi	87	24	20	13	12	13	5
East Baton Rouge Parish → 985 people / sq mi	83	18	19	14	13	12	7
Tensas Parish → 6 people / sq mi	82	23	20	14	9	11	5
Acadia Parish → 86 people / sq mi	80	24	20	13	7	12	4
Calcasieu Parish → 192 people / sq mi	80	22	20	13	8	13	4
St. Landry Parish → 88 people / sq mi	80	24	20	13	9	11	3
West Baton Rouge Parish → 147 people / sq mi	80	22	20	14	10	11	3
Livingston Parish → 232 people / sq mi	79	21	20	14	10	11	3
St. Tammany Parish → 326 people / sq mi	77	20	19	14	7	13	4
Lafayette Parish → 929 people / sq mi	73	22	19	14	6	11	1
St. Charles Parish → 182 people / sq mi	73	21	19	13	7	11	2
Iberville Parish → 48 people / sq mi	72	23	19	14	6	10	0
Ascension Parish → 454 people / sq mi	70	21	18	14	6	10	1
Assumption Parish → 59 people / sq mi	70	23	20	14	4	9	0
Lafourche Parish → 89 people / sq mi	70	21	17	13	6	11	2
Iberia Parish → 118 people / sq mi	69	23	18	14	4	10	0
St. James Parish → 81 people / sq mi	68	22	20	13	3	10	0
St. Martin Parish → 69 people / sq mi	67	24	14	14	6	9	0
Vermilion Parish → 49 people / sq mi	67	22	18	13	4	10	0
St. Mary Parish → 84 people / sq mi	66	20	19	14	4	9	0
St. John the Baptist Parish → 185 people / sq mi	65	22	15	13	6	9	0
Plaquemines Parish → 29 people / sq mi	62	19	18	13	3	9	0
Cameron Parish → 4 people / sq mi	61	19	16	13	4	9	0
Terrebonne Parish → 84 people / sq mi	61	22	14	13	3	9	0
Orleans Parish → 2148 people / sq mi	60	20	14	13	4	9	0
St. Bernard Parish → 118 people / sq mi	60	20	14	13	4	9	0
Jefferson Parish → 1402 people / sq mi	59	19	15	13	3	9	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

70% of Louisiana's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Sabine Parish, Union Parish and Avoyelles Parish. The weakest are Jefferson Parish, Orleans Parish and St. Bernard Parish. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

Buildability: Sabine Parish scores 10 of 10, Jefferson Parish 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Sabine Parish scores 15 of 15, Jefferson Parish 3. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Sabine Parish scores 15 of 15, Jefferson Parish 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Legal: Sabine Parish scores 20 of 20, St. Bernard Parish 14. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.
Water: Sabine Parish scores 25 of 25, East Baton Rouge Parish 18. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

Solar barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Hazard is Louisiana's weakest dimension, at 12 of 15 for the state as a whole. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $130k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Louisiana row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Louisiana

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Louisiana? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsLouisiana: 88 of 100, 24th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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