Good News for Residents of St. Tammany Parish
Even though the 10-year statistical snapshot for the parish of St. Tammany includes 2006, a “boom” year for the parish, the snapshot revealed some very good news for residents of St. Tammany Parish, as well as home buyers looking to move into the parish. A report by the St. Tammany Parish Economic Development Foundations shows a
10-year overview of the population, employment, wages, income, housing, and much more.
According to the report, the population increased 26% from 223,062 to 253,603 from 2006 to 2016. The really good news was that total wages increased by nearly 63% from $2.4 billion in 2006 to $3.9 billion in 2016. Most of the job growth was seen in the science and technology sector, which saw a 40% increase. Overall, household income increased from $75,016 to $88,614 during the 10-year period, which is an 18% increase. Science and technology job wages grew from $163 million to $293 million in 10 years, with an average wage of $62,400.
“I think the biggest impact, to me, is knowing the opportunities and wages for science and technology jobs increased so much,” said Brenda Bertus, the foundation’s chief executive officer. “That tells me there are more of those jobs
here. Those are really good jobs,” Bertus said.
Local real estate companies as well as the U.S. Census & U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis contributed to the statistical data about the residents and economic information in St. Tammany Parish. They also reported on building and business permits, housing prices, apartment rent, and sales taxes.
After the initial boost of buildling permits just after Hurricane Katrina in 2006, the report showed that housing sales increased around 42% over the last 5 years, and the average rent for apartments went up 38%. Business numbers increased from 6,728 in 2006 to 7,900 in 2016, which is approximately a 17% increase.
