The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Lafayette Parish, LA
Lafayette Parish is home to 248,000 residents and includes Lafayette and Youngsville · Updated November 2026
Is Lafayette Parish, LA safe?
Crime in Lafayette Parish is moderate, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of B. Most US neighborhoods have little crime: 71% of Americans live in neighborhoods with less crime than Lafayette Parish. Property crime grades better than violent crime here, B+ against B. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Lafayette Parish run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
B
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 682 of 1,000Less safe than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
29% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Lafayette Parish as a whole, and 71% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Lafayette Parish scores 682.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Lafayette Parish, LA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Lafayette Parish, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Lafayette Parish
Robberies are less common than the crime level suggests. Crime overall in Lafayette Parish runs 28% above the US rate, but robberies run 37% below it: 0.39 a year per 1,000 residents, against 0.62 nationally.
Aggravated assault stands out among B-graded counties. For the typical resident of a B-graded US county, the figure is 3.1 aggravated assaults a year per 1,000 residents; Lafayette Parish has 5.9.
Burglaries run high. Lafayette Parish has burglaries at about double the US rate: 4.7 a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
The safest and most dangerous places in Lafayette Parish
Most of Lafayette Parish grades well: 80% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 11% in areas graded D or F. Grades across Lafayette Parish run from A+ to F; 34% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
80%11%
A or B 80%C 9%D or F 11%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Cities and towns in Lafayette Parish with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the county, the Youngsville and Broussard areas have the least crime and the north side the most.
Is crime going up in Lafayette Parish?
Since 2019, reported violent crime in Lafayette Parish is up 65% and property crime is down 11%. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 4.0 to 6.6 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 31 to 28 (US: 18). In 2024 alone, violent crime rose 17%.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Lafayette ParishUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across Lafayette Parish. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Lafayette Parish
Violent, US
Property, Lafayette Parish
Property, US
2016
+7%
+4%
+22%
+15%
2017
+14%
+4%
+11%
+12%
2018
+11%
+0%
+14%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+6%
+4%
+6%
-8%
2021
+2%
+6%
-13%
-10%
2022
+0%
+5%
-5%
-6%
2023
+41%
+2%
-3%
-7%
2024
+65%
-4%
-11%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Lafayette Parish
CrimeGrade™ estimates Lafayette Parish has about 48 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 28% more than the US as a whole and close to Louisiana.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Theft makes up about 44% of crime reported in Lafayette Parish. Assault is less common but costs more, because each one does far more harm.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
How Lafayette Parish compares with nearby counties
Lafayette Parish has the most crime of its 10 nearest counties.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from Lafayette Parish. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with counties of similar size and density, Lafayette Parish has more crime than 92% of them.
Shops, transit and walkability in Lafayette Parish
Lafayette Parish looks like a typical county on the traits that tend to go with crime.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.13.9 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Higher than for 94% of Americans
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Lafayette Parish: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 86% of Americans
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 82% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D (16 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 57% of Americans
Show all 6
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.55 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Higher than for 81% of Americans
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary and arson.8.8% of homesUS: 7.1%Higher than for 79% of Americans
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery.8% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 68% of Americans
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Lafayette Parish
Crime costs Lafayette Parish about $1,594 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 32% more than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $155 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $583 million a year, or $2,350 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$36 million
$146
Rape
$4.0 million
$16
Robbery
$3.0 million
$12
Assault
$56 million
$225
Burglary
$11 million
$43
Theft
$27 million
$107
Vehicle theft
$10 million
$41
Arson
$150,000
$1
Vandalism
$8.7 million
$35
Total
$155 million
$626
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Lafayette Parish means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Lafayette Parish, LA average a SchoolGrade of B+: 39% of students test proficient, against 33% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in Lafayette Parish on SchoolGrade
