City · St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Covington, Louisiana

Covington is a city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, part of the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA metro area. It has 11,658 residents. Covington, Louisiana has a quality-of-life score of 46 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,523 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Louisiana it ranks #8 of 262 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), restaurants and bars (high) and primary care shortage (low). It ranks worst on natural hazard risk (high), hot days (high) and injury deaths (high).

46Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,523 of 15,651 cities and towns
Louisiana: #8 of 262 in LA
Population: 11,658 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 1,448.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 2218125

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety59#6,476/15,637
Economy46#8,474/15,631
Housing30#10,458/14,977
Health27#11,361/15,609
Healthcare66#5,310/15,650
Environment24#11,760/15,453
Education71#4,610/15,649
Infrastructure54#7,271/15,650
Community23#11,988/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#1,970/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Covington, Louisiana ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “St. Tammany Parish value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Pharmacies · high2.9 /10k
95/100Louisiana 2.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSt. Tammany Parish value
Restaurants and bars · high13.6 /10k
92/100Louisiana 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSt. Tammany Parish value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Louisiana 9.9United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationSt. Tammany Parish value
Child care cost burden · low21.8%
89/100Louisiana 30.2%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Tammany Parish value
Gyms and fitness centers · high1.9 /10k
88/100Louisiana 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSt. Tammany Parish value
Mammography screening · high53.0%
85/100Louisiana 48.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Tammany Parish value

Weaknesses

Natural hazard risk · high97.0
3/100Louisiana 71.72025Federal Emergency Management AgencySt. Tammany Parish value
Hot days · high87 days
14/100Louisiana 85 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSt. Tammany Parish value
Injury deaths · high120 /100k
15/100Louisiana 121 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSt. Tammany Parish value
Frequent mental distress · high20.5%
16/100Louisiana 21.3%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Rent-burdened households · high47.9%
18/100Louisiana 54.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Depression · high26.8%
19/100Louisiana 27.2%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
10,372 (2015-2019) → 11,658 (2020-2024)
+12%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
59.1% (2015-2019) → 47.9% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
83.5% (2015-2019) → 94.0% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
17.5% (2015-2019) → 11.7% (2020-2024)
−5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.3× (2015-2019) → 3.9× (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent as share of incomeImproving
33.0% (2015-2019) → 29.4% (2020-2024)
−3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Covington, Louisiana improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+10 points83.5% → 94.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Covington, Louisiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.4 min2015-2019	28.3 min2020-2024	+3.9 min	Within the margin of error	15%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.3%2015-2019	39.4%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Broadband subscriptions	83.5%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+10 points	Improved	62%
Child poverty rate	17.5%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Effective property tax rate	0.75%2015-2019	0.60%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
High school diploma or higher	88.1%2015-2019	91.5%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	72%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	3.9×2020-2024	+0.6×	Within the margin of error	39%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4442015-2019	0.4502020-2024	+0.006	Within the margin of error	45%
Median household income	$71,5482015-2019	$75,8512020-2024	+6%	Within the margin of error	12%
Poverty rate	13.4%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	33.0%2015-2019	29.4%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Rent-burdened households	59.1%2015-2019	47.9%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.6%2015-2019	12.2%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Within the margin of error	16%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Covington, Louisiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Covington, Louisiana in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Covington, Louisiana itself moved +4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

11,658 residents (±42)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,390 households (±298)

Covington, Louisiana
Louisiana share

Under $25k15%666
$25k–50k12%†544
$50k–75k21%919

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,390 households (±298)

Covington, Louisiana
Louisiana share

Own70%3,061
Rent30%1,329

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,585 workers (±322)

Covington, Louisiana
Louisiana share

Drive alone80%3,658
Carpool4.4%†200
Public transit0.1%†4

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of St. Tammany Parish, the county holding most of Covington's residents.

St. Tammany Parish has 7,101 employer establishments, 257 for every 10,000 residents (1.04× the US rate of 248; 1.09× Louisiana's), with 86,457 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,997. The Census Bureau also counts 28,672 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 7,101; 28,672 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 257; US 248 · Louisiana 236
Paid employees: 86,457
Average annual pay: $53,997; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of St. Tammany Parish by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	732	26.5	1.27×More than typical	6,953	$72,075	1,491
Restaurants and other eating places	581	21.1	1.15×About typical	11,478	$20,614	140
Specialty trade contractors	455	16.5	1.07×About typical	6,499	$50,726	2,013
Lessors of real estate	311	11.3	0.92×About typical	849	$44,239	3,043
Offices of physicians	255	9.2	1.43×More than typical	2,884	$102,903	381
Full-service restaurants	254	9.2	1.20×About typical	6,123	$22,707	51
Legal services	247	9	1.66×More than typical	795	$77,366	513
Building equipment contractors	244	8.8	1.47×More than typical	4,895	$49,928	447
Limited-service restaurants	215	7.8	0.97×About typical	4,186	$18,944	53
Offices of other health practitioners	211	7.6	1.26×More than typical	1,269	$45,838	655
Construction of buildings	200	7.2	0.96×About typical	937	$65,584	1,073
Insurance agencies and brokerages	200	7.2	1.65×More than typical	1,704	$66,054	676

Rank places for an industry Open St. Tammany Parish

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 275,871 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $17M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Covington, Louisiana: $1,462 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $17M; −3% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1,462; US $1,994
Sole-source: 63%; US 30%
Single offer: 15%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$13.1M77%
Defense Logistics Agency$3.6M21%
Department of Veterans Affairs$291.6K1.7%
Drug Enforcement Administration$14.9K0.1%
U.S. Marshals Service$5,1570.0%
U.S. Geological Survey$3,0180.0%
Federal Bureau of Investigation$1,8530.0%
U.S. Coast Guard$1,6370.0%

Top recipients

HORNBECK OFFSHORE OPERATORS LLC$13.1M77%
BOH ENVIRONMENTAL, L.L.C.$3.6M21%
VALI COOPER INTERNATIONAL LLC$276.9K1.6%
GLOBALSTAR USA LLC$14.7K0.1%
MAX MICHEL JR LLC$5,1570.0%

Spending by fiscal year

17.5MFY2017
3.6MFY2018
10.7MFY2019
14.6MFY2020
8.4MFY2021
10.5MFY2022
20.2MFY2023
14.3M

Top industries (NAICS)

Deep sea, coastal, and Great Lakes water transportation · 4831$13.3M78%
Boiler, tank, and shipping container manufacturing · 3324$3.6M21%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$276.9K1.6%
Satellite telecommunications · 5174$17.9K0.1%
Other schools and instruction · 6116$5,1570.0%
Other personal services · 8129

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Covington, Louisiana, so they do not add up across cities.

Covington, Louisiana's figures are part of those of St. Tammany Parish, LA ($143.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 12% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Covington is mostly in St. Tammany Parish.

See federal money in St. Tammany Parish

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Covington, Louisiana is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Steve ScaliseR-LA-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.4%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

St. Tammany Parish62100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA73

Other cities and towns in St. Tammany Parish

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2218125

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends