St. Charles Parish, Louisiana

St. Charles Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, about 25 miles west of New Orleans
along the Mississippi River. It had a population of 52,549 at the 2020 census, an estimated
50,586 by 2025, and covers 411 square miles (1,060 km2) centred near 29°55′N 90°22′W.

Hahnville is the parish seat; its postal code is 70057. The parish has no incorporated cities
or towns — every community listed here is a census-designated place or an unincorporated
settlement governed directly by the parish council, across 14 named CDPs and 3 smaller
unincorporated communities. It runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 22089.

Towns & Villages in St. Charles Parish

St. Charles Parish has 17 named places on record: 14 census-designated places and 3
unincorporated communities with no CDP boundary and no separate population count. CDP stands
for census designated place; Unincorp. covers small settlements the Census Bureau does not tally
on its own.

Des Allemands straddles the parish line: it sits mostly in St. Charles Parish but extends
southwest into Lafourche Parish along the bayou that separates them, so its 2,179 residents are
split between the two parishes rather than counted entirely here. Gypsy straddles a different
line, spanning St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes on the Mississippi’s east bank; it
has no CDP boundary of its own and shares Montz’s 70068 ZIP. Summing the 14 CDPs above accounts
for 52,489 of the parish’s 52,549 residents, leaving only about 60 people in the unincorporated
land outside them — consistent with Almedia, Frellsen and Gypsy carrying no separate Census
count. A longer list of River Road plantation-era place names circulates in older gazetteers
(Camardelle, Corso, Dufresne, Rost and others), but none of them appear as a distinct Census
Bureau place today, so they are left off this list rather than published unverified.

ZIP Codes

• 70057 — Hahnville (parish seat)
• 70070 — Luling
• 70047 — Destrehan
• 70087 — St. Rose
• 70079 — Norco
• 70030 — Des Allemands
• 70068 — Montz (also serves Gypsy)
• 70080 — Paradis
• 70078 — New Sarpy
• 70066 — Killona
• 70039 — Boutte and Taft (shared)

Ama and Bayou Gauche have no ZIP code of their own; mail for both is delivered under a
neighboring community’s code. Almedia and Frellsen, the two smallest unincorporated
communities, are likewise served by the nearest post office rather than a dedicated code.

Geography

St. Charles Parish sits on both banks of the Mississippi River in Louisiana’s southeastern
delta country, part of the New Orleans-Metairie metropolitan area. Of its 411 square miles, 279
are land and 132 are water — 32 percent, well above the state average, reflecting the
parish’s share of the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain’s southern shore, Bayou Gauche and
the Bayou des Allemands wetlands that separate it from Lafourche Parish. The river itself divides
the parish into an east bank and a west bank, with Destrehan, Norco, St. Rose and Ama on the east
side and Luling, Hahnville, Boutte, Paradis and Des Allemands on the west.

Jefferson Parish borders St. Charles to the east, Lafourche Parish to the southwest, and St.
John the Baptist Parish to the northwest, with Lake Pontchartrain forming the parish’s water
boundary to the north. Jefferson
Parish, Lafourche Parish and
St. John the Baptist
Parish all border St. Charles directly.

Demographics

St. Charles Parish had a population of 52,549 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate
puts the parish near 50,586 residents by 2025, a 3.7 percent decline. Luling and Destrehan are
by far the two largest communities, together holding roughly half the parish’s population.
Median household income was $69,019 per the 2019 ACS, above Louisiana’s statewide figure of
$58,229 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to about 188 people per square mile of land,
concentrated along the two riverbank corridors rather than spread evenly across the parish’s
extensive wetlands.

Economy & Local Life

Energy and chemical manufacturing anchor the parish economy, a shift from its sugarcane-plantation
past. The Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex, a combined refinery and chemical plant on the east
bank, is the parish’s largest industrial employer and gives Norco its name — short for the
New Orleans Refining Company, which built the original plant in 1911. The Waterford 3 Nuclear
Generating Station, operated by Entergy near Killona, is the other major industrial anchor,
sitting on a 3,000-acre site about 25 miles west of New Orleans. St. Charles Parish Hospital in
Luling is the parish’s principal health care employer. Destrehan High School, Hahnville High
School and the historic Destrehan Plantation, which drew filmmakers for the 2013 film 12 Years
a Slave, are among the parish’s better-known local institutions.

History

The Louisiana legislature organized St. Charles Parish in 1807, four years after the United
States purchased the territory from France in 1803. It takes its name from St. Charles Borromeo.
The area was originally part of the German Coast, a stretch of the Mississippi’s banks settled
by German immigrants beginning in the 1720s, long before Louisiana became American territory.

In January 1811 the parish was the site of the German Coast Uprising, the largest rebellion
by enslaved people in United States history. Led by Charles Deslondes, several hundred enslaved
people marched from a plantation near present-day Norco toward New Orleans before militia and
federal troops put down the revolt; roughly 95 participants were killed in the fighting and its
aftermath. Hahnville, the current parish seat, was originally called Flaggville before being
renamed for former Louisiana governor Michael Hahn, who subdivided his sugar plantation to
establish the town.

Getting There

Interstate 310 runs the length of the parish, crossing the Mississippi on the Hale Boggs
Memorial Bridge — opened in 1983, linking Destrehan on the east bank with Luling on the
west — and connecting to I-10 at its north end near Kenner. US 61 and US 90 also cross the
parish, along with LA 48 on the east-bank River Road and LA 18 on the west-bank River Road.

• New Orleans — about 25 miles east
• Kenner — about 15 miles northeast
• LaPlace — about 10 miles northwest
• Houma — about 35 miles south

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, just across the parish line in Kenner, is
the nearest commercial airport, roughly 15 miles from Destrehan. New Orleans Union Passenger
Terminal, about 25 miles east, is the nearest Amtrak station; no passenger rail line runs through
the parish itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is St. Charles Parish located?
It straddles the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana, about 25 miles west of New
Orleans, bordered by Jefferson, Lafourche and St. John the Baptist parishes.

What is the population of St. Charles Parish?
52,549 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 50,586.

How big is St. Charles Parish?
411 square miles (1,060 km2) in total, of which 279 square miles are land and 132 square miles
are water.

What is the parish seat of St. Charles Parish?
Hahnville, originally called Flaggville, is the parish seat; its ZIP code is 70057.

How many towns and villages are in St. Charles Parish?
None are incorporated. The parish has 14 census-designated places — led by Luling,
Destrehan and St. Rose — plus 3 smaller unincorporated communities, all governed directly
by the parish council.

What ZIP codes does St. Charles Parish use?
70057 for Hahnville, 70070 for Luling, 70047 for Destrehan, 70087 for St. Rose, 70079 for Norco,
70039 for Boutte and Taft, and 70030, 70068, 70080, 70078 and 70066 for the parish’s smaller
communities.

What is St. Charles Parish known for?
The 1811 German Coast Uprising, the largest slave rebellion in US history, and the Shell Norco
refining complex and Waterford 3 nuclear plant that anchor its modern economy.

More counties in this state: Towns
and villages in Louisiana.