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Colfax, Louisiana

Colfax is a small town of about 1,400 people in Grant Parish, Louisiana. It's the county seat. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, New Orleans, is about 193 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
1,393
down 2.7% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$73,400
Grant Parish prices down 7.4% since 2022
Household income
$26,250
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Alexandria area
85.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
20 miles
Alexandria, LA
To New Orleans
193 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.3% below the U.S. average in the Alexandria metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Colfax itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Grant High School, about 11 miles away.
  • A hospital close byRapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, about 20 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew Orleans is about 193 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Colfax meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$73,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Down 7.4%Grant Parish, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$499 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$26,250U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
9%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.7U.S. average = 100 (the Alexandria metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved down 7.4% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Alexandria metro area, not Colfax alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,3932020: 1,431
Median age
41.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (12%)
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Rapides Regional Medical Center, Alexandria, LA, about 20 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Colfax, run by Grant Parish. The nearest public high school is Grant High School, about 11 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Louisiana's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
48%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
39°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
73 a year
Nights at or below freezing
16 a year
Rain and melted snow
59.7 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
89 feet

Weather stations: Boyce 3 WNW (9 miles away) and Colfax (1 mile away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Rapides Regional Medical Center, Bossier City, New Orleans.

Grant Parish is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Hotel Lesage.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Cane River Creole National Historical Park14 miles

Read about Colfax's history on Wikipedia.

Know Colfax?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Boyce, LA864 people, 9 miles
  • Rock Hill, LA (unincorporated)438 people, 9 miles
  • Dry Prong, LA443 people, 11 miles
  • Prospect, LA (unincorporated)378 people, 13 miles
  • Creola, LA309 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.