Louisiana’s Health and Well-Being: What the Latest Numbers Mean for Tangipahoa Parish
The latest numbers show challenges across Louisiana—and some of those challenges hit close to home.
Louisiana continues to face significant challenges in health, economic security and quality of life.
The latest America’s Health Rankings Annual Report places Louisiana 50th among all 50 states overall. The report looks beyond medical care, examining social and economic conditions, the physical environment, behaviors, clinical care and health outcomes.
For residents of Tangipahoa Parish, these statewide numbers aren’t just statistics from somewhere else in Louisiana. Many of the same issues measured at the state level can also be seen in communities throughout the parish.
Looking Closer to Home
Tangipahoa Parish is one of Louisiana’s larger parishes, with an estimated 141,346 residents in 2025. The parish has grown by approximately 6.1% since the 2020 Census, when its population was 133,157.
The parish includes Hammond, Ponchatoula, Amite City, Independence, Kentwood, Loranger, Roseland, Tickfaw and other communities spread across approximately 791 square miles.
While Tangipahoa continues to grow, growth does not automatically mean that every resident is benefiting equally from economic opportunity or improvements in quality of life.
Poverty Remains a Local Concern
The latest Census data show that 19.4% of people in Tangipahoa Parish live below the poverty level. Median household income is approximately $56,760, based on 2020–2024 data.
Another analysis of Census data places the parish’s 2020–2024 poverty rate at approximately 19.2%, representing about 25,400 people.
That puts the issue into more understandable terms.
For a parish of roughly 141,000 people, poverty represents tens of thousands of residents—not simply a percentage on a chart.
And behind that number are families dealing with the cost of housing, food, transportation, health care and other everyday expenses.
Health Goes Beyond Doctors and Hospitals
One of the most important points in the latest state and parish health data is that health is about more than health care.
The 2025 County Health Rankings examine factors such as health behaviors, access to care, social and economic conditions and the physical environment. The rankings recognize that where people live, work and grow up can have a major influence on their health.
That applies directly to Tangipahoa Parish.
Access to transportation, affordable housing, education, employment, healthy food, reliable internet and health services can all influence the opportunities available to residents.
These are sometimes called the social determinants of health.
Tangipahoa’s Health Picture
The 2025 data show that Tangipahoa faces several of the same health challenges seen throughout Louisiana.
Available County Health Rankings-based data show an adult obesity rate of approximately 42.3%, while diabetes affects about 13.0% of adults in the parish in the measures reported for the 2025 ranking. The parish also has an uninsured rate of approximately 8.4%.
These numbers don’t mean that Tangipahoa is unhealthy across the board.
They do, however, illustrate why health discussions need to include more than hospitals, doctors and insurance.
A Growing Parish With Economic Challenges
Tangipahoa Parish is also an economically active part of southeast Louisiana.
The parish had approximately 2,617 employer establishments and 39,823 jobs in 2023, according to Census Bureau data. Retail sales totaled approximately $2.85 billion in 2022.
Hammond, in particular, serves as an important commercial, educational and medical center for the parish and surrounding communities.
Southeastern Louisiana University, North Oaks Health System, local businesses, restaurants, retailers and other employers contribute to the regional economy.
Yet economic activity and household economic security are not the same thing.
A community can have growing businesses while some families continue to struggle with poverty, housing costs, transportation and access to services.
Education and Opportunity
Education is another important part of the picture.
The latest Census data show that approximately 21.4% of Tangipahoa Parish residents age 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Education can influence employment opportunities and household income, but it is also important to recognize the many different paths people take.
Technical education, skilled trades, health care, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, construction, hospitality, entrepreneurship and other occupations are all important to the local economy.
The challenge for Tangipahoa is not simply producing more college graduates. It is creating and maintaining opportunities that allow residents with different skills and educational backgrounds to build secure lives locally.
Health Care in Tangipahoa Parish
Health care is one area where Tangipahoa has significant resources.
The parish is home to hospitals, physicians, clinics, pharmacies, dentists, behavioral-health providers and other medical services.
Yet access is not necessarily equal for everyone.
The latest parish data show approximately 8.8% of residents without health-care coverage, according to the 2024 American Community Survey.
Transportation can also matter, particularly for residents living in rural portions of the parish.
For someone who does not have reliable transportation, simply having a medical facility somewhere in the parish does not necessarily mean that health care is easily accessible.
Rural and Urban Tangipahoa
One of the unique characteristics of Tangipahoa Parish is the mixture of communities.
Hammond and Ponchatoula have more concentrated commercial and medical services, while communities such as Kentwood, Independence, Roseland and rural areas throughout the parish have different needs.
A 2025 community health assessment prepared for Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center notes that a significant portion of Tangipahoa’s population lives in rural, low-density areas.
That geographic difference matters.
The experience of a family living near downtown Hammond can be very different from that of a family living miles away in a rural part of the parish.
What Does Louisiana’s 50th Ranking Mean Locally?
Louisiana’s 50th-place ranking should not be interpreted as meaning that every parish, city or resident ranks 50th.
Statewide rankings are averages and summaries of large populations.
Tangipahoa Parish has its own strengths and weaknesses, and parish-level measurements can differ substantially from statewide results.
However, the statewide ranking does provide a reason to look closer at the conditions affecting local communities.
The 2025 County Health Rankings specifically provide parish-level information for Louisiana, allowing communities to examine health outcomes and the factors that contribute to them.
For Tangipahoa Parish, that means asking some very local questions:
Are residents able to find good-paying jobs?
Can families afford housing?
Do children have access to quality education?
Can residents easily reach doctors and other health services?
Do people have reliable transportation and internet access?
Are healthy foods affordable and accessible?
Are our communities safe and environmentally healthy?
These questions are much more meaningful locally than simply looking at a national ranking.
Hammond and the Rest of Tangipahoa
For Hammond, Ponchatoula and the other communities of Tangipahoa Parish, improving well-being is not something that can be accomplished by the health-care system alone.
It involves businesses, schools, universities, local governments, nonprofit organizations, health-care providers and residents.
Economic development matters.
Education matters.
Public safety matters.
Transportation matters.
Housing matters.
Health care matters.
And so does having a community where people want to live, work, raise families and grow older.
Looking Ahead
The latest statistics show that Louisiana has considerable work to do.
The state ranks 50th overall in the latest America’s Health Rankings, while Tangipahoa Parish continues to deal with significant levels of poverty and health-related challenges of its own.
But statistics can also provide an opportunity.
They show where problems exist.
They give communities something to measure.
And they can help local leaders, organizations and residents identify where improvements are needed.
For Tangipahoa Parish, the goal should not simply be to move higher on a ranking.
The more important question is whether the people who live here are seeing improvements in their everyday lives.
Are families better able to afford their homes and groceries?
Are children receiving the education they need?
Can residents get the health care they need when they need it?
Are there enough good-paying jobs and opportunities for young people to stay in the parish?
Those are the measurements that ultimately matter most.
Louisiana’s latest rankings may tell us where the state stands nationally, but Tangipahoa Parish is where many of those numbers become real people, real families and real communities.