LAFAYETTE, La. — If you own a home in Louisiana, you already know the state is one of the more tax-friendly places to live in America. What you may not know is that two homeowners with identical $300,000 houses — one in East Feliciana Parish, one in Allen Parish — can end up with property tax bills that differ by more than a thousand dollars a year, even though both live in the same state under the same rules.
That gap exists because property taxes in Louisiana are set almost entirely at the local level. According to Southern Title, which tracks millage rates across all 64 Louisiana parishes using data from the Louisiana Tax Commission, total combined millage rates run from a low of 48.40 mills in East Feliciana Parish to 145.70 mills in Allen Parish.
Lafayette Parish sits at 105.20 mills, placing it right in the middle of the state — slightly below the 50th percentile when ranked by millage rate. For a homeowner in the city of Lafayette with a $300,000 house who qualifies for the homestead exemption, that works out to a 0.79% effective tax rate.
Download the KPEL-FM Mobile App Now
How Louisiana Property Taxes Actually Work
Louisiana does not have a state property tax. Every mill on your tax bill comes from local authorities — your parish government, school board, sheriff’s law enforcement district, fire department, library system, drainage boards, levee boards, and various special improvement districts…