Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

Terrebonne Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, about 55 miles southwest of New
Orleans. It had a population of 109,580 at the 2020 census, an estimated 104,163 more recently,
and covers 2,082 square miles (5,392 km2) centred near 29°20′N 90°50′W.

Houma is the parish seat and by far the largest community; its postal code is 70360. The
parish holds 1 city, 9 census-designated places and 5 unincorporated communities with no local
government of their own, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 22109.

Towns & Villages in Terrebonne Parish

Terrebonne Parish has 15 named places on record: Houma, its only incorporated city, plus 9
census-designated places (CDPs) and 5 unincorporated communities without formal boundaries or
local government. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers rural settlements
tracked by name but not by the Census Bureau as a distinct place.

Bayou Blue straddles the parish line: its 13,352 residents are split between Terrebonne and
neighbouring Lafourche Parish, and both parishes’ school districts serve the CDP. Isle de
Jean Charles, at the parish’s southeastern edge, has lost roughly 98 percent of its land to
coastal erosion since 1955; its Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw residents secured federal funding in
2016 to relocate the community inland, and only a small number of households remain on the
island itself.

Geography

Terrebonne Parish sits in southern Louisiana’s coastal marsh zone, at the far southern
edge of the Mississippi River delta plain. Of its 2,082 square miles, 1,232 are land and 850 are
water — about 41 percent, one of the highest water shares of any Louisiana parish, a result
of the bayous, marshes and bays that dominate its southern half. Houma itself sits at the
convergence of six named bayous, and the Gulf of Mexico forms the parish’s open southern
edge beyond Cocodrie and Isle de Jean Charles.

Assumption Parish lies to the north, Lafourche Parish to the east, and St. Mary Parish to the
west and northwest. Assumption
Parish, Lafourche Parish and St. Mary Parish all border Terrebonne
directly; the Gulf of Mexico closes off the parish’s remaining side to the south.

Demographics

Terrebonne Parish had a population of 109,580 at the 2020 census, and more recent Census
Bureau estimates put the parish near 104,163, a decline tied to hurricane damage and continued
land loss along the coast. Houma and Bayou Cane are by far the two largest communities, together
holding roughly half the parish’s population. Median household income runs $64,836
according to Data USA, above Louisiana’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $58,229. Population
density works out to about 89 people per square mile of land. More than 20 percent of residents
report French American ancestry, and over 10 percent of the parish is fluent in French, a legacy
of the Acadian settlement that founded the region.

Economy & Local Life

Retail trade employs the most workers in the parish, about 6,787 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 6,589 and construction at 4,382, according to Data USA. Mining and
oil and gas extraction jobs pay the highest average wages in the parish, a holdover from the
industry that transformed Houma into one of the fastest-growing cities in America by 1960.
Commercial fishing remains a major part of local life: Terrebonne Parish accounts for more than
20 percent of Louisiana’s seafood production, with oysters, shrimp and crabs harvested out
of Chauvin, Dulac and Cocodrie. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, near Houma, serves as a
regional public hospital for the area. The parish’s biggest annual event is Tab
Benoit’s Voice of the Wetlands Music Festival in Houma each October, which draws musicians
and visitors from across the Gulf Coast to raise awareness of coastal erosion.

History

The Louisiana legislature organised Terrebonne Parish on 22 March 1822, carving it from the
southern part of the old Lafourche Interior. The name comes from French “terre
bonne,” meaning good earth, a nod to the fertile soil that drew early settlers. French
Acadian exiles began arriving around 1760 after the British expelled them from Nova Scotia,
choosing the area for its isolation, fertile land and abundant fish and wildlife; their
descendants became the region’s Cajun population. The parish seat was first at
Williamsburg, near modern Bayou Cane, before moving to the newly founded town of Houma in 1834.
By 1851 the parish held 110 sugar plantations and 80 sugar mills worked by enslaved labour,
including Southdown Plantation, established in 1828. Oil and gas exploration, beginning in 1929,
reshaped the economy again through the 20th century until the industry’s collapse in the
early 1980s brought sharp unemployment. Houma and the parish government merged in 1984 into the
Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. Hurricane Ida struck the parish directly on 29 August
2021, causing major damage, and Hurricane Francine made landfall here on 11 September 2024.

Getting There

US Highway 90 is the parish’s main artery, running through Houma on its way toward a
planned future Interstate 49 South extension. Louisiana Highways 24, 55, 56, 57, 58, 182, 311 and
315 connect the outlying communities to Houma.

• New Orleans — about 55 miles northeast
• Thibodaux — about 20 miles north
• Morgan City — about 30 miles west
• Baton Rouge — about 65 miles north

Houma-Terrebonne Airport, on the city’s north side, handles general aviation and charter
flights. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, roughly 60 miles northeast, is the
nearest major commercial airport. Terrebonne Parish has no Amtrak station of its own; the closest
service is New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Terrebonne Parish located?
It sits in southern Louisiana’s coastal marsh zone, about 55 miles southwest of New
Orleans, bordered by Assumption, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes and the Gulf of Mexico.

What is the population of Terrebonne Parish?
109,580 at the 2020 census, with more recent Census Bureau estimates near 104,163.

How big is Terrebonne Parish?
2,082 square miles (5,392 km2) total, of which 1,232 square miles are land and 850 square miles
are water.

What is the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish?
Houma, founded in 1834, is the parish seat and largest city, home to about 33,406 residents.

How many towns and communities are in Terrebonne Parish?
One incorporated city, Houma, plus nine census-designated places — Bayou Cane, Bayou Blue,
Schriever, Gray, Chauvin, Bourg, Presquille, Montegut and Dulac — and five unincorporated
communities: Gibson, Pointe-aux-Chenes, Cocodrie, Theriot and Isle de Jean Charles.

What ZIP codes does Terrebonne Parish use?
70360 for Houma; 70395 for Schriever; 70359 for Gray; 70344 for Chauvin; 70343 for Bourg and
Presquille; 70377 for Montegut and Pointe-aux-Chenes; 70353 for Dulac; and 70356 for Gibson.

What is Terrebonne Parish known for?
Cajun culture and the French language, a seafood industry that supplies more than 20 percent of
Louisiana’s catch, offshore oil and gas work, and the ongoing coastal erosion that has
reshaped communities like Isle de Jean Charles.

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