Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, on the west bank and east bank of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. It had a population of 440,781 at the 2020 census and covers 296 square miles (770 km2) of land centred near 29\u00b044\u2032N 90\u00b006\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Gretna is the parish seat and its postal code is 70053. The parish has 4 incorporated cities, 2 incorporated towns, and about a dozen larger unincorporated communities alongside dozens of smaller subdivisions and mobile-home parks. It sits in the Central time zone and is the core suburban parish of the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area.<\/p>\n
Jefferson Parish has 4 incorporated cities, 2 incorporated towns, and a large number of unincorporated communities and Census-designated places, plus many named subdivisions and mobile-home parks that never sought incorporation. Unincorp. below marks unincorporated communities\/CDPs.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gretna<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 17,735<\/td>\n | 70053<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Kenner<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 66,975<\/td>\n | 70062 \/ 70065<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harahan<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 8,932<\/td>\n | 70123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Westwego<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 8,443<\/td>\n | 70094<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Grand Isle<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,220<\/td>\n | 70358<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jean Lafitte<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,713<\/td>\n | 70067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Metairie<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 138,481<\/td>\n | 70001–70006<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Terrytown<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 23,571<\/td>\n | 70056<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Marrero<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 34,662<\/td>\n | 70072<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Harvey<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 21,175<\/td>\n | 70058<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| River Ridge<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 14,309<\/td>\n | 70123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Waggaman<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 10,300<\/td>\n | 70094<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Estelle<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 10,743<\/td>\n | 70072<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Timberlane<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 11,798<\/td>\n | 70056<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Woodmere<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 13,076<\/td>\n | 70072<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bridge City<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 7,690<\/td>\n | 70094<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Avondale<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 4,582<\/td>\n | 70094<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Barataria<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70036<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Crown Point<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lafitte<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cheniere Caminada<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70358<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Indian Beach<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70358<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Jefferson<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70121<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Elmwood<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bucktown<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bonnabel Place<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70005<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bissonet Plaza<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70006<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| McDonoghville<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70053<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shrewsbury<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 70123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Two names in the old list refer to the same place under different spellings: Lafitte and the incorporated town of Jean Lafitte are the same community, and Crown Point sits immediately alongside it on Louisiana Highway 45 south of the Intracoastal Waterway. Several remaining old-list entries — Andrus MH Park, Bassa Bassa, Beverly Knoll, Breaux MH Park, Circle West MHs Estates, Coverdale, Crest Trailer Park, Farmington Place, H and D MH Park, Harahan Junction, Hassels Trailer Park, Justice Trailer Court, Kennedy Heights, Live Oak Manor, Majorias Many Trees MH Park, Metairie Terrace, Oak Park II MH Park, Oak Ridge Park, Orlandos MH Park, Pontchartrain Gardens, Pontchartrain Shores, Rex Trailer Court, Sievers Trailer Court, South Kenner, Southport, Walkertown, Westgate, Willowdale and Willswood — are small named subdivisions or mobile-home parks inside the larger CDPs above rather than separately tabulated Census places, so they are omitted from the table to avoid double-counting population.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nJefferson Parish has 34 ZIP codes in total once P.O.-box-only and unique codes are counted, but the 16 above cover every populated place carried over from the old list.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nJefferson Parish straddles both banks of the Mississippi River in the New Orleans metropolitan area, then stretches south through cypress swamp and marsh to barrier islands on the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Pontchartrain forms its northern edge and the Barataria estuary covers most of its lower half; of the parish’s 665 square miles, 370 square miles are water, the highest water share of any Louisiana parish. The developed east bank (Metairie, Kenner) and west bank (Gretna, Harvey, Marrero) sit above sea level on the natural river levee, while Grand Isle, on the Gulf itself, is the state’s only inhabited barrier island. Jefferson Parish borders St. Tammany Parish across Lake Pontchartrain to the north; Orleans Parish, St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish to the east; St. Charles Parish to the west; and Lafourche Parish<\/a> to the southwest.<\/p>\n Jefferson Parish had 440,781 residents at the 2020 census, Louisiana’s second-most-populous parish after East Baton Rouge. Metairie, an unincorporated CDP, is the largest community at 138,481; Kenner is the largest incorporated city at 66,975. Median household income runs below the Louisiana median of $58,229, reflecting a mix of affluent Metairie subdivisions and lower-income neighborhoods on the west bank and in older Kenner. Population density averages roughly 1,490 people per square mile of land, concentrated almost entirely along the developed river-levee corridor rather than the marsh to the south.<\/p>\n Jefferson Parish is a retail, healthcare and logistics hub for the New Orleans region. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport sits in Kenner, and the Elmwood Business Park in Harahan\/Jefferson is one of the region’s largest industrial and office corridors. Ochsner Medical Center’s main campus in Jefferson is the state’s largest private employer. The Lafitte-area communities and Grand Isle support a commercial shrimping and offshore-oilfield-service fleet. The parish hosts its own Mardi Gras parades on both banks, separate from Orleans Parish’s, and Grand Isle’s Tarpon Rodeo each July is one of the oldest fishing tournaments on the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n Jefferson Parish was created February 11, 1825, from part of Orleans Parish and named for President Thomas Jefferson. Its early economy centered on sugar plantations along the river and truck farming supplying New Orleans markets; the west-bank towns grew as streetcar and rail suburbs from the late 1800s, and Metairie and Kenner grew fastest after the 1950s as automobile suburbs. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 flooded large sections of the parish’s lower-lying west-bank and lakefront neighborhoods, and Hurricane Ida in 2021 caused major wind damage parish-wide; both storms are marked on the parish’s flood-protection and levee upgrades since.<\/p>\n Interstate 10 crosses the parish east\u2013west through Metairie and Kenner, U.S. Highway 90 (the Westbank Expressway) serves the west-bank cities, and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway links Metairie to St. Tammany Parish across the lake.<\/p>\n Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, in Kenner, serves the whole metro area and is the nearest commercial airport.<\/p>\n Where is Jefferson Parish?<\/strong> What is the population of Jefferson Parish?<\/strong> How big is Jefferson Parish?<\/strong> What is the Jefferson Parish seat?<\/strong> How many towns are in Jefferson Parish?<\/strong> What ZIP codes are in Jefferson Parish?<\/strong> |