Rich Heritage

Bountiful Opportunity

Jeff Davis Parish, the “Heart of I-10” located between Lake Charles and Lafayette, LA and between Houston, TX and New Orleans, LA provides the opportunity to live, work and play in a small-town and stay connected to the larger cities within 30 minutes to an hour and ½ away.

Jennings is the parish seat and offers an airport utilized by agriculture services and private plane hangars. During hunting season, private aircraft fly-in to take advantage of the hunting available on both private and public lands.  Jennings also hosts a new $10M SOWELA – Morgan Smith Site.

Thanks to the efforts of our local delegates, local governmental agencies, Jeff Davis Parish School Board, and Capital Outlay grants, 10 acres of land adjacent to the Jennings High School were secured to construct a new building. This new building will allow existing programs to grow and/or new programs to begin. The building is designed to have transformable space that can easily be adjusted to meet the training needs of the local industry. It will also provide the space necessary to run short-term programs that are relevant to our local workforce.

Jennings also offers a variety of cultural events and activities featuring the Zigler and Tupper Museums. The Oil & Gas Park provides tourist information and the Gator Chateau, where baby alligators are available to be held. The parish is also part of the Culinary Trails program featuring local restaurants in Jennings, Lake Arthur and Welsh.

Festivals and events in the parish provide opportunities to listen and dance to our own brand of music, French and Zydeco with a little country thrown in for good measure.

Jeff Davis Parish is uniquely situated on I-10 and partners with both the Southwest Louisiana Regional Alliance consisting of the parishes of Calcasieu, Cameron, Beauregard and Allen and One Acadiana with nine parishes including Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St Martin, St Mary and Vermilion parishes.

This partnership allows all parishes to work together on political and infrastructure issues and gives a greater voice for state and federal dollars for our regions.

Jefferson Davis Parish School System has a time honored tradition of excellence in academic performance, combining rigorous instruction with high expectations in our community schools.  With over 800 instructional and support employees, the Jefferson Davis Parish School System is the largest employer in the parish. We are committed to continuous improvement of the services we provide to facilitate the highest levels of achievement for approximately 6000 students each day.

Louisiana’s current Educational Accountability Plan is one of the most rigorous in the nation, and the Jefferson Davis Parish School System has historically ranked in the top quartile when compared to other Louisiana districts.  Jefferson Davis Parish currently maintains a District Performance Score above 90, with a letter grade designation of “B”.  We boast one of the highest attendance rates in the state and are currently ranked fourth in our ability to graduate students on time.

Located along the I-10 Corridor in southwest Louisiana, Jefferson Davis Parish is a unique community of 31,413 residents according to the US Census Bureau July 2016 official census. Bordered by Acadia Parish on the east and Calcasieu Parish on the west, the parish offers a rural atmosphere with quick and easy access to the larger urban areas of Lafayette to the east and Lake Charles to the west. Most college bound graduates of Jefferson Davis schools attend one of three colleges located within 35 miles of the parish.

Higher Education

INDUSTRIAL, AGRICULTURAL & COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

There are two 4-year universities and two 2-year community colleges within an hour’s drive of most of Jefferson Davis Parish. Doctoral degrees are available in the arts, sciences, engineering, medical, and legal fields.

4-Year Colleges & Universities

McNeese State University:

Lake Charles

University of Louisiana at Lafayette:

Lafayette

2-Year Community College

Louisiana State University at Eunice:

Eunice

SOWELA Technical Community College :

Lake Charles, Main Campus

Jennings, Morgan Smith Campus

Prime Location

Ready for Business

The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) produces the Cost of Living Index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences among urban areas. Items on which the Index is based have been carefully chosen to reflect the different categories of consumer expenditures.

Relative Price Measures & Inflation

The Index measures relative price levels for consumer goods and services. The average for all participating urban areas equals 100, and each area’s index is read as a percentage of the average for all urban areas.

The Index does not measure inflation. Because each quarterly report is a separate comparison of prices at a single point in time, and because both the number and the mix of participants changes from one quarter to the next, Index data from different quarters cannot be compared. For inflation data, contact the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The ACCRA Cost of Living Index is weighted as follows:

  • 100% Composite Index

  • 13.61% Grocery Items

  • 27.59% Housing

  • 10.06% Utilities

  • 9.59% Transportation

  • 4.00% Healthcare

  • 35.15% Miscellaneous Goods & Services

The chart below shows cost of living comparisons of various urban areas with the Lake Charles MSA.

AreaComposite IndexGrocery ItemsHousingUtilitiesTransportationHealthcareMisc. Goods & Services
Lake Charles, LA93.694.597.392.4102.598.187.8
Lafayette, LA89.6101.073.6103.694.592.192.1
Baton Rouge, LA95.299.184.480.296.5112.9104.2
Shreveport, LA89.996.084.375.891.994.094.9
New Orleans, LA99.398.1106.882.8100.793.499.0
Alexandria, LA 95.198.493.488.2101.6110.893.6
Monroe, LA93.599.183.899.688.587.199.3
Atlanta, GA97.7104.791.189.2101.4107.8100.4
Cedar Rapids, IA97.697.988.0102.6117.2106.197.4
Springfield, IL93.498.479.0100.1100.9100.197.9
Dallas, TX101.290.6102.4102.3101.2103.4103.7
Houston, TX97.084.8104.899.392.990.696.7
Corpus Christi, TX96.284.490.6125.092.292.898.5
Savannah, GA89.393.467.2107.698.197.496.6
Austin, TX97.786.899.899.996.699.299.8
Montgomery, AL91.390.384.1108.194.881.592.7