{"id":4342,"date":"2023-06-21T21:14:48","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T21:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4342"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:25:06","slug":"lafourche-parish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/lafourche-parish\/","title":{"rendered":"Lafourche Parish, Louisiana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lafourche Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, about 55 miles southwest of New<br \/>\nOrleans along Bayou Lafourche. It had a population of 97,557 at the 2020 census, an estimated<br \/>\n96,252 by 2024, and covers 1,068 square miles (2,770 km2) of land centred near 29\u00b029\u2032N 90\u00b024\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Thibodaux is the parish seat; its postal code is 70301. The parish holds 1 city, 2 incorporated<br \/>\ntowns and 16 census-designated or unincorporated communities along Bayou Lafourche and the Gulf<br \/>\ncoast, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 22057.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Lafourche Parish<\/h2>\n<p>Lafourche Parish has 19 named places on record: 3 incorporated municipalities and 16<br \/>\ncensus-designated places (CDPs) or unincorporated communities with no local government of their<br \/>\nown. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers named communities with no formal<br \/>\nboundary or population count of their own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Thibodaux<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>15,948<\/td>\n<td>70301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bayou Blue<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>13,352<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Raceland<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>9,768<\/td>\n<td>70394<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Galliano<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>7,100<\/td>\n<td>70354<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Larose<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,763<\/td>\n<td>70373<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cut Off<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>5,533<\/td>\n<td>70345<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Chackbay<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>5,370<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lockport<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>2,490<\/td>\n<td>70374<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lafourche Crossing<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,427<\/td>\n<td>70301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mathews<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,273<\/td>\n<td>70375<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Des Allemands<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>2,179<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Golden Meadow<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>1,761<\/td>\n<td>70357<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bayou Country Club<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,304<\/td>\n<td>70301<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lockport Heights<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,171<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kraemer<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>877<\/td>\n<td>70371<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Choctaw<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>775<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Port Fourchon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>70357<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Leeville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gheens<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two places on this list straddle parish lines. Bayou Blue&#8217;s 13,352 residents are split<br \/>\nbetween Lafourche and neighboring Terrebonne Parish, with the larger share on the Terrebonne<br \/>\nside around Houma; the Lafourche Parish School District serves only its own portion. Des<br \/>\nAllemands sits across the Lafourche&#8211;St. Charles Parish line, and its 2,179 residents are<br \/>\nlikewise divided between the two parishes rather than counted entirely as Lafourche&#8217;s<br \/>\nown.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>70301 &mdash; Thibodaux (also serves Lafourche Crossing and Bayou Country Club)<\/li>\n<li>70302 &mdash; Thibodaux (Nicholls State University station)<\/li>\n<li>70310 &mdash; Thibodaux<\/li>\n<li>70394 &mdash; Raceland<\/li>\n<li>70354 &mdash; Galliano<\/li>\n<li>70373 &mdash; Larose<\/li>\n<li>70345 &mdash; Cut Off<\/li>\n<li>70374 &mdash; Lockport (also serves Lockport Heights)<\/li>\n<li>70375 &mdash; Mathews<\/li>\n<li>70357 &mdash; Golden Meadow (also serves Port Fourchon)<\/li>\n<li>70371 &mdash; Kraemer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chackbay, Choctaw, Des Allemands, Leeville and Gheens have no ZIP code of their own; mail<br \/>\nthere is delivered under the nearest incorporated town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Lafourche Parish runs from the flat sugar-cane land of the Bayou Lafourche natural levee in<br \/>\nthe north to open marsh and the Gulf of Mexico shoreline in the south. Of its 1,474 square<br \/>\nmiles, 1,068 are land and 406 are water, about 28 percent &mdash; among the highest water shares<br \/>\nof any Louisiana parish, reflecting the wetlands and canals south of Golden Meadow. Bayou<br \/>\nLafourche runs the length of the parish and once carried the full flow of the Mississippi River<br \/>\nbefore an 1904 dam cut it off at Donaldsonville; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses the<br \/>\nparish east to west through Larose.<\/p>\n<p>St. James Parish and St. John the Baptist Parish lie to the north, St. Charles Parish to the<br \/>\nnortheast, Jefferson Parish to the east, Terrebonne Parish to the west, Assumption Parish to the<br \/>\nnorthwest, and the Gulf of Mexico forms the parish&#8217;s southern edge. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/saint-james-parish\/\">St. James Parish<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/saint-john-the-baptist-parish\/\">St. John the Baptist<br \/>\nParish<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/saint-charles-parish\/\">St. Charles Parish<\/a>,<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/jefferson-parish\/\">Jefferson Parish<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/terrebonne-parish\/\">Terrebonne Parish<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/assumption-parish\/\">Assumption Parish<\/a> all border<br \/>\nLafourche directly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Lafourche Parish had a population of 97,557 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe parish near 96,252 residents in 2024, a small decline tied in part to Hurricane Ida&#8217;s<br \/>\n2021 landfall. Thibodaux and Raceland are the two largest communities wholly inside the parish;<br \/>\nBayou Blue is larger still but shares its population with Terrebonne Parish. Median household<br \/>\nincome runs $63,135, above Louisiana&#8217;s statewide figure of $58,229. Population density<br \/>\nworks out to roughly 91 people per square mile of land, concentrated along Bayou Lafourche and<br \/>\nthe parish&#8217;s northern sugar-cane country, with the southern wetlands and Gulf coast almost<br \/>\nentirely unpopulated.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the parish, about 6,109 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by retail trade at 4,599 and educational services at 4,058. Thibodaux Regional Health<br \/>\nSystem is the parish&#8217;s largest hospital employer, and Nicholls State University, founded in<br \/>\n1948 and enrolling about 6,366 students, is Thibodaux&#8217;s biggest single employer and home to<br \/>\nthe Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, one of the first US bachelor&#8217;s programs in culinary<br \/>\narts. Port Fourchon, at the parish&#8217;s southern tip, services more than 90 percent of Gulf of<br \/>\nMexico deepwater oil production and supports over 600 offshore platforms within 40 miles,<br \/>\nanchoring an oil-and-gas services cluster that runs the length of Bayou Lafourche through<br \/>\nGalliano and Golden Meadow. Fishing and shrimping remain major industries in Cut Off, Golden<br \/>\nMeadow and Larose. The parish&#8217;s biggest annual event is Thibodaux&#8217;s Fireman&#8217;s<br \/>\nFair each August, one of Louisiana&#8217;s oldest community festivals.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>The Louisiana territorial legislature created Lafourche Parish in 1807, carving it out of the<br \/>\nlarger Lafourche Interior Parish, which also became Terrebonne Parish. The name comes from Bayou<br \/>\nLafourche itself, French for &#8220;the fork,&#8221; describing the bayou&#8217;s split from the<br \/>\nMississippi River near Donaldsonville. Thibodaux, first settled around 1808 as a trading post<br \/>\ncalled Thibodeauxville, was incorporated as a town in 1830 and became the parish seat.<\/p>\n<p>The parish&#8217;s sugar-cane plantation economy relied on enslaved and later low-wage Black<br \/>\nlabor through the 19th century. In November 1887, a strike by roughly 10,000 sugar workers<br \/>\ndemanding higher wages ended when white militia forces attacked Black workers and their families<br \/>\nin Thibodaux over several days, killing an estimated 35 to 50 people in what became known as the<br \/>\nThibodaux Massacre &mdash; one of the deadliest episodes of labor violence in US history. More<br \/>\nrecently, Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon on 29 August 2021 as a Category 4 storm,<br \/>\nthe strongest to strike the parish on record, causing severe damage from Golden Meadow north<br \/>\nthrough Larose and Cut Off.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>US Highway 90 crosses the parish&#8217;s north end through Raceland and Lafourche Crossing;<br \/>\nno interstate currently runs through Lafourche Parish, though a future extension of Interstate 49<br \/>\nis planned along the US 90 corridor. Louisiana Highway 1 runs the length of the parish alongside<br \/>\nBayou Lafourche from Thibodaux south to Port Fourchon, and Louisiana Highways 20, 24, 182, 304<br \/>\nand 308 also serve the parish.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Houma &mdash; about 15 miles west of Thibodaux<\/li>\n<li>New Orleans &mdash; about 55 miles northeast of Thibodaux<\/li>\n<li>Port Fourchon &mdash; about 55 miles south of Thibodaux<\/li>\n<li>Napoleonville &mdash; about 20 miles northwest of Thibodaux<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, roughly 60 miles northeast of Thibodaux,<br \/>\nis the nearest major commercial airport. Houma-Terrebonne Airport, about 15 miles west, handles<br \/>\ngeneral aviation and the offshore-oil helicopter traffic that also uses Port Fourchon&#8217;s<br \/>\nheliports directly. Lafourche Parish has no Amtrak station; the nearest is New Orleans Union<br \/>\nPassenger Terminal.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Lafourche Parish located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in southeastern Louisiana along Bayou Lafourche, about 55 miles southwest of New<br \/>\nOrleans, bordered by St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Jefferson, Terrebonne and<br \/>\nAssumption parishes and the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Lafourche Parish?<\/strong><br \/>\n97,557 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 96,252.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Lafourche Parish?<\/strong><br \/>\n1,474 square miles (3,820 km2) in total, of which 1,068 square miles (2,770 km2) are land and<br \/>\n406 square miles are water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the parish seat of Lafourche Parish?<\/strong><br \/>\nThibodaux, incorporated in 1830, is the parish seat and largest city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and villages are in Lafourche Parish?<\/strong><br \/>\nThree incorporated municipalities &mdash; Thibodaux, Golden Meadow and Lockport &mdash; plus 16<br \/>\ncensus-designated places and unincorporated communities including Raceland, Galliano, Larose,<br \/>\nCut Off and Port Fourchon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Lafourche Parish use?<\/strong><br \/>\n70301, 70302 and 70310 for Thibodaux; 70394 for Raceland; 70354 for Galliano; 70373 for Larose;<br \/>\n70345 for Cut Off; 70374 for Lockport; 70357 for Golden Meadow and Port Fourchon; and 70371 for<br \/>\nKraemer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Lafourche Parish known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nPort Fourchon, which services over 90 percent of Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil production, and<br \/>\nthe 1887 Thibodaux Massacre, one of the deadliest labor conflicts in US history.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/louisiana\/\">Towns<br \/>\nand villages in Louisiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lafourche Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, about 55 miles southwest of New Orleans along Bayou Lafourche. It had a population of 97,557 at the 2020 census, an estimated 96,252 by 2024, and covers 1,068 square miles (2,770 km2) of land centred near 29\u00b029\u2032N 90\u00b024\u2032W. Thibodaux is the parish seat; its postal code [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 19 towns and communities in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Port Fourchon oil and Thibodaux Massacre history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-4342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-louisiana","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9279,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4342\/revisions\/9279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}