Hello Louisiana Movers & New Residents!
The Creole State
Welcome to America’s home of Creole cooking, where the shrimp are good and the gumbo & jambalaya are even greater! This land has developed into a hub of a diverse range of cultures, from African influence to French and Spanish possession. The result is the culture of soulful jazz music, food that’ll put a kick in your backside and a friendliness that’ll touch your heart. Relocate here, and you’ll soon be proud to rock this fantastic accent!
Relocating to Louisiana - New Resident Moving Information
The largest cities in the state of Louisiana include New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Monroe, Lafayette, Alexandria, Houma, Bossier City, Natchitoches, Slidell, West Monroe, New Iberia, Covington, Hammond, Thibodaux, Kenner, Ruston, Mandeville, Coushatta, Opelousas, Gonzales and St. Francisville.
Once you’ve made decision, you’re ready to relocate! And whichever place you decide, you can have a smooth transition by following the proper steps required by the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV). We’ve laid out the most important steps for becoming a resident below.
- If you have a license issued from another state in the US, you can convert it to a Louisiana license. Make sure to do so within 30 days of moving here. (Why? Because after this time frame you can get expensive penalties!)
- You’ll need insurance for your car from a company licensed to do business in Louisiana. Reach out to a Louisiana insurance agent, and they will be happy to make sure your getting quotes to give you the lowest prices possible for insurance here.
- Make sure to register your vehicle within 30 days of establishing residency. You can do this at your local Louisiana OMV
Your car may need to go through an emissions inspection, depending on the vehicle type. See if yours meets the requirements at: http://www.dmv.org/la-louisiana/new-to-louisiana.php
It’s good to note that counties here in Louisiana aren’t counties exactly; they are political subdivisions referred to as parishes. So if you live in the East Baton Rouge Parish, it does not mean you’re residing in a church yard!
Neighrborhood Information for Louisiana Moving Companies & Louisiana Moving Quotes
Weather: Louisiana is the epitome of a Southern state with a humid subtropical climate. Due to the influence from the Gulf of Mexico that helps bring so much rain throughout the year, summers are long; they’re hot; they’re humid. In contrast, winters are far shorter and quite mild.
Severe weather to watch out for? Tropical cyclones and hurricanes; set aside some time to research and prepare your home and family for these to occur. Hurricane Katrina was the most devastating and heart-breaking one to hit in the recent past that you likely remember from 2005.
Population & Cost of Living:-Relocate to Louisiana, and become one of 4.625 million folks residing here. Now, one of the most important questions, what does it cost for residents to live here?
It is about 6% less expensive to live here than the average American city. The lowest factor for low costs are the going rates of food and petrol. Because so much food processing, food production & petroleum production is done in the area, these costs are more inexpensive than all those cities that have to have the resulting goods imported.
Numbers wise, the average income here is approximately $35,200 a year. Housing prices vary greatly depending on if you’re in the bustling city of Baton Rouge or a small town in the countryside. Average prices range from $100,00 to $140,000.
A huge living cost here, however, are the insurance rates. Due to the severity of events like Hurricane Katrina, insuring ones home and self becomes very expensive.
Louisiana Employment Rate & Economy
The unemployment rate in Louisiana, as of Fall 2014, is about 5.8%.
Moving here means getting a new job, most likely. The top employers come out of the top industries, which are mineral production (mostly being oil, natural gas, sulphur, lime & salt), chemical & petrochemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, tourism, education, services (such as finance and business services), tourism, forestry (pulp, plywood and papermaking lead off of this), fishing and food…so much food!
The food industry here includes both agriculture and food processing. Top agriculture products include cattle & calves, dairy products, chicken eggs and seafood. Raw products include sugar cane, rice, soybeans, cotton & corn. As for food processing, some top fields include meat packaging, Tabasco pepper manufacturing and sugar refining.
LOUISIANA ATTRACTIONS YOU CAN'T MISS
- Crawfish Festival - These happen all over, but the annual 50 year traditional festival located in Breaux Bridge, the Crawfish Capital of the World, is the ultimate event.
- Mardi Gras - Nowhere celebrates this festival nice New Orleans. Head here to experience the madness and...catch some beads?
- The state capitol building - Visit this spot in Baton Rouge to see the tallest state capitol building America. At 34 stories and about 450 feet? It makes even celebrities like Shaq and Michael Jordan feel miniscule.
FUN LOUISIANA FACTS
- There are nearly half as many alligators as there are number of residents living in Louisiana.
- The famous, beloved jazz musician Louis Armstrong came straight from New Orleans (also known as NOLA)!
- Visit some of the beautiful historic mansions in Louisiana and look out for floor-length mirrors. Why? Women, back in the day, used these to make sure their scandalous ankles weren’t showing!