Moving to Louisiana from Ohio
What to Expect
Everything you need to know before relocating from Ohio to Louisiana — costs, safety, healthcare, and practical first steps.
If you moved from Ohio to Louisiana, you would find that Louisiana is 2.5% more expensive than Ohio. A $75,000 salary in Ohio would need to be roughly $76,900 in Louisiana to maintain the same lifestyle. Columbus and New Orleans are about 800 mi apart.
Is Louisiana cheaper than Ohio?
Where you'll feel the difference day-to-day
Restaurants
pay 11.6% more
Groceries
pay 7.0% more
Transportation
pay 14.0% less
Housing
pay 8.7% more
Childcare
pay 21.2% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 5.9% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Louisiana?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $76,900
To maintain the same standard of living in Louisiana
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Louisiana cost about 13% more than cities in Ohio.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
Key indicators for anyone considering a move from Ohio to Louisiana.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Ohio generally does better on what about housing?, though Louisiana leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Ohio generally does better on employment & economy, though Louisiana leads in unemployment rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Louisiana vs Ohio
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Columbus | New Orleans |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 63°/41°F (17°/5°C) | 65°/51°F (18°/10°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 84°/62°F (29°/16°C) | 84°/70°F (29°/21°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 90°/71°F (32°/21°C) | 89°/77°F (32°/25°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 68°/47°F (20°/8°C) | 71°/57°F (21°/14°C) |
View all months
| Month | Columbus | New Orleans |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 58°/37°F (14.2°/2.7°C) | 60°/46°F (15.6°/8.0°C) |
| Feb | 62°/40°F (16.7°/4.5°C) | 64°/50°F (17.9°/9.9°C) |
| Mar | 69°/46°F (20.8°/7.8°C) | 71°/56°F (21.4°/13.3°C) |
| Apr | 77°/53°F (24.8°/11.4°C) | 77°/63°F (25.2°/17.1°C) |
| May | 84°/62°F (28.9°/16.6°C) | 85°/71°F (29.2°/21.5°C) |
| Jun | 90°/70°F (32.2°/20.9°C) | 89°/76°F (31.8°/24.4°C) |
| Jul | 92°/73°F (33.4°/22.7°C) | 90°/78°F (32.5°/25.5°C) |
| Aug | 91°/72°F (33.0°/22.4°C) | 91°/78°F (32.7°/25.7°C) |
| Sep | 86°/67°F (30.2°/19.3°C) | 87°/75°F (30.4°/23.7°C) |
| Oct | 77°/56°F (25.2°/13.1°C) | 79°/66°F (25.9°/18.9°C) |
| Nov | 68°/46°F (20.2°/7.8°C) | 71°/57°F (21.5°/13.7°C) |
| Dec | 59°/39°F (15.2°/3.8°C) | 63°/49°F (17.0°/9.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Louisiana than Ohio?
Costs in Louisiana and Ohio are broadly similar overall, though categories like rent and dining differ between cities.
How much money do I need to move to Louisiana?
Plan for at least 3 months of living expenses — roughly $19,225 in Louisiana on a $75,000 comparable salary — plus one-off moving costs (movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit).
Is Louisiana safe?
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Louisiana compared to Ohio?
Ohio performs better than Louisiana across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Louisiana compared to Ohio?
The average high temperature in New Orleans is 77°F, compared to 76°F in Columbus. New Orleans receives around 56.8 in of rainfall per year, while Columbus gets 46.8 in.
