The neighbourhoods
Uptown & the Garden District
USD 1,300–2,000 / month for a 1-bed; more for a whole doubleLive oaks, nineteenth-century mansions and shotgun doubles on the high ground along the river, with the St. Charles streetcar running through the middle of it
Commute: 20–35 minutes to the CBD on the St. Charles streetcar; 15 by bike along Magazine
- Some of the highest ground in the parish, which shows up directly in the insurance quote
- Magazine Street's six miles of independent shops and restaurants, plus Audubon Park
- The streetcar is a real commuter service, so a car is genuinely optional here
- The most expensive rents in the city outside the new-build CBD stock
- Street parking is tight and the live oak roots have destroyed the pavements
- Tulane and Loyola students shape the blocks closest to the campuses
Marigny & Bywater
USD 1,200–1,750 / month for a 1-bedPainted Creole cottages on the downriver natural levee, with Frenchmen Street's music strip at one end and Crescent Park's riverfront at the other
Commute: 10 minutes to the CBD by bike or the Rampart streetcar; walkable to the Quarter
- High ground by New Orleans standards — the levee ridge, not the drained back-of-town
- The most walkable neighbourhood in the city after the Quarter, and the best music within walking distance
- Crescent Park and the Lafitte Greenway both start here
- Short-term rentals have taken a real bite out of the long-term stock and the permit rules keep changing
- Weekend noise from Frenchmen Street reaches several blocks
- Very little modern housing — expect an old building with old wiring and window units
Mid-City & Bayou St. John
USD 1,050–1,500 / month for a 1-bedThe centre of the parish between the river and the lake — a mix of shotguns, doubles and small apartment buildings around City Park and the bayou
Commute: 15–20 minutes to the CBD on the Canal streetcar or by bike down the Lafitte Greenway
- Best balance of price, space and centrality in the city
- City Park, the bayou and the greenway on the doorstep
- The Canal streetcar and the Lafitte Greenway make it genuinely car-optional
- Lower ground than Uptown or the Marigny — street flooding in heavy rain is a real and recurring issue here
- Insurance quotes step up noticeably against the riverfront neighbourhoods
- Condition varies block to block, so walk the specific street
Lakeview & Lakefront
USD 1,400–2,000 / month for a 1-bed; USD 2,200–3,200 for a 3-bed housePost-2005 rebuild territory near Lake Pontchartrain — suburban in feel, much of it raised, with the newest housing stock in the parish
Commute: 20–30 minutes to the CBD by car; bus service is thin and this is car territory
- Much of the stock is post-Katrina and built to current elevation requirements, which insures better than its map zone suggests
- Space, off-street parking and the lakefront
- Quiet, and the most conventionally suburban option inside the parish
- This is the area that took over ten feet of water when the 17th Street Canal failed in 2005 — the history matters to insurers and to neighbours
- Effectively requires a car
- Least characterful housing stock in the city
Algiers Point & the West Bank
USD 950–1,400 / month for a 1-bedA small intact nineteenth-century village across the river, on some of the highest natural ground in the parish, with a ferry to the foot of Canal Street
Commute: About 10 minutes on the Algiers ferry plus a short walk to the CBD
- The best price-per-square-foot of historic housing in the parish by a clear margin
- High ground and a favourable flood-insurance picture relative to most of the East Bank
- The ferry commute is genuinely pleasant and cheap
- Ferry service hours constrain a late night out on the East Bank
- Thin retail — a handful of bars and a couple of shops, not a high street
- The Point is small; the wider West Bank beyond it is a very different and more car-dependent proposition
Gentilly & New Orleans East
USD 850–1,250 / month for a 1-bed; USD 1,400–2,000 for a 3-bed houseMid-century bungalows and ranch houses on the low, drained ground between the ridge and the lake — the cheapest housing in the parish and the most exposed
Commute: 20–35 minutes to the CBD by car; buses run but are slow
- The cheapest rent and the most space per dollar anywhere in Orleans Parish
- Gentilly Terrace's raised houses and Dillard University give parts of it real character
- New Orleans East has the city's Vietnamese community and, in Village de l'Est, some of the best food in the metro
- The lowest ground in the city, and the flood and insurance consequences are the largest here
- Recovery since 2005 has been uneven and varies street by street
- Car-dependent, and retail is spread thin
How renting works in New Orleans
Leases are typically 12 months and the market is dominated by small landlords owning one or two old houses split into doubles, alongside a modest stock of purpose-built apartments in the CBD, Warehouse District and Mid-City. Louisiana has no rent control and no statutory cap on a security deposit, so both the deposit and the renewal increase are matters of negotiation. What the law does give you is a hard deadline: under La. R.S. 9:3251 the deposit, or an itemised statement of what was withheld and why, is due within one month of the lease terminating — and you must give the landlord a forwarding address for that clock to be useful. Willful non-compliance exposes the landlord to the greater of $300 or twice the amount wrongfully retained under R.S. 9:3252. Renting is also the one situation where the insurance problem is smaller than it looks and easier to get wrong: your landlord's policy covers the building and nothing of yours, standard renters insurance excludes flood, and the NFIP writes contents-only flood cover for tenants.
- 1
Pull the flood zone and the elevation for the exact address — first, before anything else
This is the single most New Orleans-specific step in this app and it is not optional. Look the address up on FEMA's flood map service, ask the landlord or agent for the elevation certificate, and note both the zone and the finished-floor elevation. Two houses on the same street can sit two feet apart vertically and price completely differently. Being in Zone X means a lender cannot force you to buy flood insurance; it does not mean the street does not flood, because the levees stop the river and the lake while the pumps handle the rain.
- 2
Ask what happened to this specific address in the last three big rains
The August 2017 flood and several since happened on ordinary days with no named storm, when rainfall outran the drainage. Ask the landlord directly and then ask a neighbour, because their answers sometimes differ. Ask specifically about the street, the driveway and whether water has ever come inside — a street that floods to the kerb every summer is normal here; a floor that has been wet is a different conversation.
- 3
Get a renters insurance quote including NFIP contents cover before you sign
Standard renters insurance excludes flood entirely. The NFIP writes contents-only policies for tenants, and the premium is set off the address's flood risk. Quote it alongside the rent for each shortlisted flat and compare the total — this is where two apparently similar places stop being similar.
- 4
See a summer Entergy bill and ask about the drainage on the block
August air conditioning in an uninsulated 1900s double is expensive, and the range between a well-insulated unit and a badly one is large. Ask the landlord or, better, the outgoing tenant what June to September actually cost. While you are there, ask whether the block's catch basins get cleared and whether the Sewerage and Water Board has had works on the street — both are ordinary local topics and both predict how the place behaves in a downpour.
- 5
If you have school-age children, run the school application in parallel
Orleans Parish has no catchment schools at all. Every family applies through the NOLA Public Schools Common Application Process and is matched by lottery, so the address does not determine the school. The main round closes in the winter for the following August. Do not sequence this after the lease — there is no address that fixes it.
- 6
Prepare the application pack, and expect no ceiling on the deposit
Photo ID, offer letter or pay stubs, and bank statements. Landlords typically want gross income around 3× the monthly rent. Without a US credit file expect a co-signer request or a larger deposit — Louisiana caps it at nothing, so negotiate rather than assuming a legal ceiling protects you.
- 7
Photograph everything on day one, and give a written forwarding address on the last
Photograph every room, every existing defect and every water mark, and email the set to the landlord so it is timestamped. At the end, hand over a written forwarding address with the keys and keep proof — R.S. 9:3251 gives the landlord one month from termination to return the deposit or send an itemised statement, and the forwarding address is what makes the obligation enforceable.
Upfront cost
Typically first month's rent plus a security deposit, commonly one month but sometimes more for a thin credit file — Louisiana sets no statutory maximum. Application and screening fees apply per adult. Entergy New Orleans and the Sewerage and Water Board will usually want deposits without a US credit history. There is no broker-fee culture here; most listings are direct from the owner or a small management company. Budget separately for renters insurance plus an NFIP contents policy, which together are a real monthly line rather than an afterthought.
Where to search
Insider tips
- Do the flood-zone and elevation check before the neighbourhood shortlist, not after. It is the variable that moves the total cost most, and it is address-specific rather than neighbourhood-specific.
- Learn the local compass — uptown, downtown, riverside, lakeside — in the first week. Every listing, every direction and every flood conversation is given in it, and 'lakeside' is also shorthand for lower ground.
- Ask whether the unit is raised and how high. A raised house with living space above the base flood elevation insures dramatically better than a slab-on-grade one on the same street, and the elevation certificate is what proves it.
- Check the short-term rental register for the block. Residential STRs are limited to properties with a homestead exemption and capped by city square, but a block with several permitted units feels different to live on, and enforcement is an ongoing local argument.
- Ask about the trees. A live oak is the best thing about a New Orleans street and the branch over the roof is a wind-claim waiting to happen; find out who is responsible for trimming it before you sign.
- If you can live along the St. Charles or Canal streetcar lines or the Lafitte Greenway, do the sums on going without a car. Louisiana's insurance premiums make that a bigger saving here than in most US cities.
- Confirm whether water and sewerage are billed to you and get a meter reading in writing on move-in day. Sewerage and Water Board billing disputes are a genuine local sport and a documented starting reading is the only defence.
Avoid these
- Treating a Zone X designation as proof the street does not flood. It is a lending rule about levees, not a statement about rainfall.
- Assuming your renters insurance covers flood. It does not, anywhere in America — flood is always a separate policy.
- Assuming the landlord's building policy protects your belongings. It protects the building.
- Comparing two flats on rent alone when their flood zones, elevations and therefore insurance quotes differ.
- Assuming a security deposit is capped at one month. Louisiana caps it at nothing.
- Leaving without giving a written forwarding address, which is what makes the one-month deposit deadline enforceable.
- Choosing the neighbourhood for its schools. Orleans Parish has no catchment schools, so the address decides nothing.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.