What Is the Average Mortgage Payment in Louisiana in 2026?

What Goes Into a Louisiana Mortgage Payment

The mortgage payment most people think about, principal and interest, is only part of what leaves your account each month. A complete Louisiana payment typically includes four components: principal and interest (P&I), property taxes, homeowners insurance, and, where applicable, mortgage insurance.

Louisiana's median home value from the American Community Survey's most recent one-year estimates comes in at $223,200, considerably below the national median. At Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey rate of 6.49% on a 30-year fixed loan, an $178,560 loan (80% of the ACS median) produces a P&I payment of approximately $1,128 per month.

Once taxes and insurance are added, the picture shifts. Property tax runs about $121 per month on a median Louisiana home after the homestead exemption is applied (more on that mechanism below). Homeowners insurance is where Louisiana diverges sharply from most states. Insurify data shows state premiums have climbed substantially in recent years, with typical annual costs ranging from roughly $3,276 to $5,986 depending on location and coverage level. At the lower end of that range, the monthly insurance cost is approximately $273. In coastal and flood-prone parishes, the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program adds approximately $79 more per month (based on the $951 average annual NFIP premium). The result is a full PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) that lands in the $1,500 to $1,900 range for most Louisiana buyers, depending on parish, loan type, and whether flood coverage applies.

The full cost picture is why a rate alone doesn't tell you much. The same P&I payment looks very different when you add a homeowners insurance line that's among the highest in the country. Starting from the full PITI is the only approach that produces a payment you can actually plan around.

Louisiana Home Prices by Market

Louisiana's statewide median doesn't tell the whole story. Local real estate market data from the most recently tracked period shows meaningful variation by market tier. New Orleans carries a median sale price of $354,000; Baton Rouge sits at $245,000; the Louisiana statewide figure comes in at $260,300.

At a 6.49% 30-year fixed rate with 20% down, those prices translate to very different monthly P&I obligations. A New Orleans buyer financing $283,200 (80% of $354,000) pays approximately $1,777 per month in P&I. A Baton Rouge buyer financing $196,000 (80% of $245,000) pays approximately $1,228 per month. That's a $549 monthly gap (around $6,588 per year) driven purely by which Louisiana market you're buying in, before a single line of insurance or tax is added.

The FHFA-set conforming loan limit of $832,750 for one-unit properties applies at the baseline across every Louisiana parish. No Louisiana parish qualifies as a high-cost area, so no parish carries a higher limit. For buyers in New Orleans at $354,000, a conforming loan is well within reach even at that market's elevated price point.

Buyers working across different Louisiana markets can use AmeriSave's online resources to model payments at various price points before committing to a specific purchase target.

FHA Loans in Louisiana: Limits and Monthly MIP Cost

FHA financing is one of the most common paths for first-time buyers in Louisiana, and the program's terms are uniform across all 64 parishes. HUD's announcement (HUD-NO-25-145) sets the FHA floor at $541,287 for a one-unit property, the same ceiling in Tensas Parish as in Orleans Parish. Two-unit properties cap at $693,050; three-unit at $837,700; four-unit at $1,041,125.

FHA loans require mortgage insurance on two fronts. An upfront MIP of 1.75% is added to the loan balance at closing, and it can be financed into the loan. An annual MIP of 0.55% applies to most 30-year loans with a loan-to-value ratio above 95%. That annual charge is divided across 12 monthly payments.

Worked Example A: FHA Loan on a Louisiana Home

Consider a buyer purchasing at an illustrative $220,000. With 3.5% down, the down payment is $7,700 and the base loan is $212,300. The upfront MIP of 1.75% adds $3,715, bringing the total financed amount to approximately $216,015. At an illustrative 7% rate on a 30-year term, P&I comes to roughly $1,438 per month.

The monthly MIP on that loan: $216,015 multiplied by 0.55%, then divided by 12, equals approximately $99 per month.

Property tax, using the Tax Foundation's 0.55% effective rate and applying the $75,000 homestead exemption, where residential property is assessed at 10% of market value: ($220,000 minus $75,000) multiplied by 10%, then multiplied by an illustrative 100 mills, then divided by 12, equals approximately $121 per month.

Homeowners insurance at the lower end of Louisiana's documented range ($3,276 per year): approximately $273 per month.

Total PITI plus MIP: approximately $1,931 per month.

That figure is achievable with a credit score of 580 or above for a 3.5% down FHA loan. For borrowers at 640 or above, several Louisiana Housing Corporation programs can improve on FHA terms, as discussed in the section below.

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USDA and Rural Loan Options

Most of rural Louisiana qualifies for USDA Section 502 Guaranteed financing, which removes the down payment requirement entirely. The urban cores of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and Lafayette are excluded from eligibility. Outside those urban footprints, USDA Rural Development maps the majority of Louisiana parishes as eligible territory.

Income limits apply. For a household of one to four people in most Louisiana parishes, the Section 502 Guaranteed income ceiling is approximately $110,650, calculated at 115% of area median income. The loan carries a 1% upfront guarantee fee (which can be financed) and a 0.35% annual fee, both lower than FHA's comparable charges.

For buyers in the most rural parts of the state, the LHC offers a program that goes further still.

The LHC Delta 100 Program

The Delta 100 program targets buyers in 12 specific delta parishes: Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Pointe Coupee, Richland, Tensas, West Carroll, and Ouachita (excluding Monroe). It carries a 2% fixed 30-year rate, a maximum loan amount of $242,000, no minimum credit score requirement, an 80% area median income limit, and a buyer contribution of just 1% of the purchase price or $1,500, whichever is less.

Worked Example B: LHC Delta 100 vs. Market Rate

At an illustrative $200,000 loan on a 30-year term, the Delta 100's 2% fixed rate produces a P&I payment of approximately $740 per month. At a market rate illustrated at 6.5%, the same loan produces approximately $1,264 per month. The monthly difference is $524. Annualized, that's $6,288 in savings. Over the full 30-year term without compounding adjustments, the total undiscounted difference exceeds $188,000.

The Delta 100 exists because rural delta parishes in Louisiana face constrained housing markets with limited conventional lending appetite. A 2% fixed rate without a credit score floor is a meaningful tool for buyers who would otherwise not qualify for standard financing or could not sustain market-rate monthly costs on the area's wage base. For buyers in those 12 parishes, running this comparison against standard programs is worth doing before any application is submitted.

LHC Programs: Louisiana's State Rate Advantage

The Louisiana Housing Corporation administers several programs that reduce either the rate, the down payment, or both for qualifying buyers. The programs are layered by income, occupation, and geography, and understanding which one applies to your situation can produce a materially lower monthly payment.

LHC MRB Home

The Mortgage Revenue Bond Home program offers a below-market 30-year fixed rate for first-time home buyers at or below 80% of area median income. The program pairs that rate with a down payment assistance grant of 5% to 9% of the loan amount, a true grant that doesn't need to be repaid. The minimum credit score is 640.

The DPA grant changes the loan-size math directly. A buyer using a 9% grant on an illustrative $220,000 purchase price reduces the base loan by $19,800 before the first payment is made, which lowers both P&I and, if applicable, MIP each month going forward. AmeriSave loan officers can help first-time buyers identify whether MRB Home stacks with other assistance to maximize the combined benefit.

LHC Pathways Soft Second

Pathways provides a soft second mortgage of 20% of the purchase price, up to $55,000, plus up to $5,000 in closing cost assistance, for a maximum of $60,000 in combined support. The soft second is deferred at 0% interest and forgiven after 10 years of owner-occupancy. The income limit is 80% AMI. The program is available in 45 specified Louisiana parishes.

A buyer using Pathways at full benefit effectively reduces their loan-to-value on the first mortgage to 80%, potentially eliminating the need for mortgage insurance while also removing $60,000 from the financed amount.

LHC Premier Program

The Premier program is one of the more distinctive offerings because it doesn't restrict eligibility to first-time home buyers. Any buyer at or below $99,000 in household income, regardless of household size or prior homeownership, can qualify. The minimum credit score is 640. The program permits 97% LTV conventional financing with a combined loan-to-value up to 105% and charges no origination or discount fees.

For repeat buyers who have sold a prior home and are purchasing again within the income limit, Premier is often the applicable LHC option. Confirming AmeriSave's participation in specific LHC products is a practical first step in the preapproval conversation.

LHC Keys for Service

First responders, teachers, and certain healthcare workers have access to a 4% down payment assistance grant under the Keys for Service program. Eligible occupations include law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, 911 dispatchers, certified teachers, and qualifying healthcare workers. The household income limit is $125,000. There is no first-time buyer requirement. The credit minimum is 640.

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A 4% DPA grant on a $250,000 purchase is $10,000 toward the down payment, enough to cover a large portion of a 3.5% FHA down payment requirement or reduce the conventional down payment burden on a conforming loan.

Property Taxes, Homestead Exemption, and Insurance

Louisiana's property tax structure has two features that set it apart from most states: an unusually low effective rate and a powerful exemption that applies to primary residences.

The Effective Rate and How It Is Calculated

Tax Foundation data puts Louisiana's effective property tax rate at 0.55% of owner-occupied housing value, consistently among the lowest in the country. The rate is not applied directly to market value, however. Louisiana assesses residential property at 10% of fair market value. So a home with a $223,200 market value carries an assessed value of $22,320 before the exemption is applied.

The $75,000 Homestead Exemption

Louisiana's Constitution (Article VII, Section 20) grants a $75,000 homestead exemption to the owner of a primary residence. This removes the first $75,000 of fair market value from most state, parish, and special ad valorem taxes. On a $223,200 home, the exemption reduces the taxable fair market value to $148,200, which is then assessed at 10%, producing an assessed value of $14,820. At a typical parish millage, this saves roughly $600 to $800 per year compared to a state without such an exemption, or approximately $50 to $67 per month.

The exemption applies to primary residences and must be claimed through the local assessor's office. It is not transferable and doesn't apply to investment properties.

Louisiana Homeowners Insurance

The insurance picture is where Louisiana's cost profile diverges most from the national average. The Louisiana Department of Insurance confirmed that rate growth is decelerating, with a recent statewide increase running at 4.3% and the first mix of rate decreases now appearing alongside increases, but the accumulated cost base remains elevated. Insurify data shows premiums have increased 38% over a recent multi-year period. Annual premiums range from approximately $3,276 to $5,986 depending on coverage, location, and insurer.

That range reflects Louisiana's geographic exposure to hurricane and flood risk. Inland parishes with lower hurricane exposure sit at the lower end of the premium range. Coastal and near-coastal parishes, particularly in south Louisiana, carry higher premiums. The Louisiana Department of Insurance notes signs of market improvement, with some insurers returning to the state and competitive pressure beginning to moderate pricing.

NFIP Flood Insurance

Separate from homeowners insurance, FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program holds approximately 463,373 active policies in Louisiana. The average annual premium for a single-family home under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 is $951. Lenders are required to mandate flood coverage for federally backed loans on properties within Special Flood Hazard Areas, a designation that covers a large share of Louisiana's developed land near rivers, coasts, and low-lying areas.

For buyers in Special Flood Hazard Areas, the full insurance cost is the sum of the homeowners policy and the NFIP premium. At average rates, that combined annual insurance cost exceeds $4,000 before any coverage adjustments.

A Louisiana payment budget that doesn't include both lines, homeowners and flood, is not a complete picture.

The Bottom Line

A Louisiana mortgage payment carries three state-specific characteristics that every buyer needs to price in: one of the lowest property tax rates in the country, a homestead exemption that reduces the taxable base on your primary residence, and one of the highest insurance cost loads nationally.

For a buyer near the ACS median Louisiana home value, the full PITI lands in the $1,500 to $1,900 range depending on parish, loan type, and whether flood coverage is required. In markets like New Orleans, that figure rises meaningfully with the higher price point. In rural delta parishes, LHC's Delta 100 program can reduce the P&I component to a level that changes the affordability calculation entirely.

The programs matter as much as the rate. LHC's MRB Home, Pathways Soft Second, Premier, Keys for Service, and Delta 100 are not peripheral options. They represent real reductions in monthly payment and upfront cost for buyers who qualify. The income thresholds and eligibility criteria are specific enough that they reward buyers who take the time to identify which program actually applies to their situation before settling on a loan structure.

AmeriSave's Certified Approval process lets you confirm your purchase power before you shop, so when you find a property, you know your payment range, your program options, and the variables that will move the final number. Getting that clarity before you write an offer is the straightforward way to make sure the payment you agree to is one you have already modeled, not one that surprises you at the closing table.