Living in Covington, LA

St. Tammany Parish

Covington is a real, incorporated North Shore town (population approximately 12,022) and the parish seat of St. Tammany Parish, founded in 1813, with a genuine, distinct historic downtown arts-and-antiques district -- monthly Trolley Run block parties on Columbia Street, named shops like Cottage Antiques and Copper Rooster Antiques -- that sets it apart from Mandeville's lakefront/trail identity and greater New Orleans' tourism economy, both covered separately elsewhere in this project. Covington's North Shore geography carries a real, disclosed advantage: genuinely lower flood exposure than New Orleans proper or St. Bernard Parish, and homeowners-insurance costs that run meaningfully below both the Louisiana statewide average and Greater New Orleans figures (St. Tammany Parish's own cited average runs approximately $1,127-$1,681/year against a statewide average of approximately $5,986-$7,304/year). That advantage comes with one real, disclosed tradeoff: St. Tammany Parish's own effective property tax rate (~0.74%) runs meaningfully above the Louisiana statewide average (~0.52%-0.55%), even as it stays below the U.S. national average. Housing carries a real, wide cross-source spread ($309,452-$374,000 depending on the source), and St. Tammany Health System (headquartered in Covington, partnered with Ochsner Health since 2014) anchors real, substantial local healthcare access. Louisiana's real 2024-reform flat 3% state income tax and $75,000 homestead exemption apply here as statewide.

Explore Covington in depth

• Moving to Covington: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Covington
• Housing Market in Covington
• Buying a Home in Covington
• Renting in Covington
• Taxes in Covington
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Covington
• Climate & Weather in Covington
• Jobs & Economy in Covington
• Schools in Covington
• Crime & Safety in Covington
• Healthcare in Covington
• Traffic & Transportation in Covington
• Best Areas to Live in Covington
• Pros and Cons of Living in Covington
• Retiring in Covington
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Covington

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families and retirees drawn to a real, walkable historic downtown arts-and-antiques district, genuinely below-average insurance costs, and North Shore geography carrying lower flood exposure than south-shore Louisiana markets.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers assuming Louisiana's low-property-tax reputation applies uniformly -- St. Tammany Parish's own rate runs above the statewide average; anyone who needs light-rail or streetcar access, given Covington's genuinely car-dependent commute; and anyone treating North Shore geography as eliminating hurricane risk rather than genuinely reducing flood exposure specifically.