What salary do you need to live in Alexandria, LA?

Alexandria housing costs at a glance

A one-bedroom in Alexandria rents for a median of $706 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $892 and a three-bedroom for $1,126. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $10,704.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $175,200. That is only 3.1× the area's median household income of $56,353, a low ratio by national standards.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Alexandria's overall prices at 85.7 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $116,705 would elsewhere.

The salary lines for a two-bedroom in Alexandria

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $18,000, Okay at $40,000 and Comfortable at $80,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 13% of income and the median home is 2.2× income.

Reaching Royal takes $210,000 — 2.6× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Alexandria

Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 11% and the score 67, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 18% and the score falls to 60, Okay.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $100,000 row. One row up, $75,000 scores 63.

Where Alexandria falls nationally

Ranked against all 387 metros, Alexandria sits 375th on overall price level and 361st on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 342nd.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Brownsville-Harlingen, TX ($893) and Monroe, LA ($892).

Comparing Alexandria with Louisiana

Statewide, Louisiana's median two-bedroom rent is $1,055 and its median home value $216,500. Alexandria's rent is −15% against that, and its home value −19%; the price parity is 85.7 versus 88.2 for the state.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $103,000 — above Alexandria's $80,000 line.

The nearest matches in Louisiana, judged on rent and price parity together, are Monroe, LA, Hammond, LA, and Lafayette, LA.

Does the typical Alexandria income clear the bar?

The median household in the metro earns $56,353 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 55, Okay. That falls $23,647 short of the $80,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Louisiana as a whole, the median household income of $60,756 scores 50 against statewide rents. A household figure may pool several earners, unlike a single salary.

Estimates use pre-tax income and public data; they are not financial advice.