{"id":4424,"date":"2023-06-22T22:17:13","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T22:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=4424"},"modified":"2026-08-11T21:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:32:46","slug":"terrebonne-parish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/terrebonne-parish\/","title":{"rendered":"Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terrebonne Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, about 55 miles southwest of New
\nOrleans. It had a population of 109,580 at the 2020 census, an estimated 104,163 more recently,
\nand covers 2,082 square miles (5,392 km2) centred near 29\u00b020\u2032N 90\u00b050\u2032W.<\/p>\n

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

Towns & Villages in Terrebonne Parish<\/h2>\n

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

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Place<\/th>\nType<\/th>\nPop.<\/th>\nZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Houma<\/td>\nCity · seat<\/td>\n33,406<\/td>\n70360<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bayou Cane<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n19,770<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bayou Blue<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n13,352<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Schriever<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n6,711<\/td>\n70395<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gray<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n5,518<\/td>\n70359<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chauvin<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n2,575<\/td>\n70344<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bourg<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n2,375<\/td>\n70343<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Presquille<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,703<\/td>\n70343<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Montegut<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,465<\/td>\n70377<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dulac<\/td>\nCDP<\/td>\n1,241<\/td>\n70353<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gibson<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n70356<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pointe-aux-Chenes<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n70377<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cocodrie<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Theriot<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Isle de Jean Charles<\/td>\nUnincorp.<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Bayou Blue straddles the parish line: its 13,352 residents are split between Terrebonne and
\nneighbouring Lafourche Parish, and both parishes’ school districts serve the CDP. Isle de
\nJean Charles, at the parish’s southeastern edge, has lost roughly 98 percent of its land to
\ncoastal erosion since 1955; its Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw residents secured federal funding in
\n2016 to relocate the community inland, and only a small number of households remain on the
\nisland itself.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

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

Assumption Parish lies to the north, Lafourche Parish to the east, and St. Mary Parish to the
\nwest and northwest. Assumption
\nParish<\/a>, Lafourche Parish<\/a> and St. Mary Parish<\/a> all border Terrebonne
\ndirectly; the Gulf of Mexico closes off the parish’s remaining side to the south.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

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

Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\n

Retail trade employs the most workers in the parish, about 6,787 people, followed by health
\ncare and social assistance at 6,589 and construction at 4,382, according to Data USA. Mining and
\noil and gas extraction jobs pay the highest average wages in the parish, a holdover from the
\nindustry that transformed Houma into one of the fastest-growing cities in America by 1960.
\nCommercial fishing remains a major part of local life: Terrebonne Parish accounts for more than
\n20 percent of Louisiana’s seafood production, with oysters, shrimp and crabs harvested out
\nof Chauvin, Dulac and Cocodrie. Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, near Houma, serves as a
\nregional public hospital for the area. The parish’s biggest annual event is Tab
\nBenoit’s Voice of the Wetlands Music Festival in Houma each October, which draws musicians
\nand visitors from across the Gulf Coast to raise awareness of coastal erosion.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

The Louisiana legislature organised Terrebonne Parish on 22 March 1822, carving it from the
\nsouthern part of the old Lafourche Interior. The name comes from French “terre
\nbonne,” meaning good earth, a nod to the fertile soil that drew early settlers. French
\nAcadian exiles began arriving around 1760 after the British expelled them from Nova Scotia,
\nchoosing the area for its isolation, fertile land and abundant fish and wildlife; their
\ndescendants became the region’s Cajun population. The parish seat was first at
\nWilliamsburg, near modern Bayou Cane, before moving to the newly founded town of Houma in 1834.
\nBy 1851 the parish held 110 sugar plantations and 80 sugar mills worked by enslaved labour,
\nincluding Southdown Plantation, established in 1828. Oil and gas exploration, beginning in 1929,
\nreshaped the economy again through the 20th century until the industry’s collapse in the
\nearly 1980s brought sharp unemployment. Houma and the parish government merged in 1984 into the
\nTerrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. Hurricane Ida struck the parish directly on 29 August
\n2021, causing major damage, and Hurricane Francine made landfall here on 11 September 2024.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

US Highway 90 is the parish’s main artery, running through Houma on its way toward a
\nplanned future Interstate 49 South extension. Louisiana Highways 24, 55, 56, 57, 58, 182, 311 and
\n315 connect the outlying communities to Houma.<\/p>\n