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Towns / Louisiana

Lakeshore, Louisiana

Lakeshore is an unincorporated community of about 3,400 people in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, in the Monroe area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 3.5 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 212 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Monroe

Population
3,437
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$166,800
Ouachita Parish prices up 8.6% since 2022
Household income
$48,214
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Monroe area
83.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Monroe, LA
To New Orleans
212 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 16.4% below the U.S. average in the Monroe metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Ouachita Parish High School, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byFmol Health St. Francis in Monroe, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew Orleans is about 212 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 Lakeshore 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Lakeshore runs into the built-up area around Monroe (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$166,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 8.6%Ouachita Parish, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,061 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$48,214U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
53%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83.6U.S. average = 100 (the Monroe 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 up 8.6% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Monroe metro area, not Lakeshore 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, 2020-2024 Census survey
3,437The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
29.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
7%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
24%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%
College students
10%share of all residents

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
Schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (18%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
19 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Fmol Health St. Francis, Monroe, LA, about 5 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

2 public schools in Lakeshore, run by Ouachita Parish and City of Monroe School District. The nearest public high school is Ouachita Parish High School, about 3 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
85%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
97%U.S.: 91%

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
37°F
July average high
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
97 a year
Nights at or below freezing
33 a year
Rain and melted snow
56.5 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
81 feet

Weather stations: Monroe Rgnl Ap (1 mile away) and Monroe Delta Cc (3 miles 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: Fmol Health St. Francis, Bossier City, New Orleans.

Ouachita 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

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Poverty Point National Monument37 miles

Read about Lakeshore's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lakeshore?

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

  • Start, LA (unincorporated)852 people, 10 miles
  • Collinston, LA256 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.