Rural Development loans in Acadiana: where the line runs and how to use it
Most of Acadiana qualifies. Lafayette proper doesn't.
Drive out of Lafayette in any direction and within a few minutes you're in an area where the USDA Rural Development loan works: nothing down, competitive rates, and a lower monthly cost than FHA for many buyers. Scott, Duson, Rayne, Carencro, Broussard, Youngsville, Milton, Breaux Bridge, St. Martinville, New Iberia, Jeanerette, Abbeville, Kaplan, Erath, Church Point and Crowley all sit in eligible areas on the current map. The only orange on the Acadiana map is Lafayette itself, and even that has holes in it.
That matters because Acadiana is where Louisiana is building houses. Youngsville and Broussard have grown faster than almost anywhere in the state, and most of the people moving into those new subdivisions think of themselves as Lafayette buyers. They've never been told the line runs at the city limit and that their side of it qualifies for a loan with no down payment. Their agent may not know either. This page is our attempt to fix that.
We drive Highway 90 through here regularly; our second home is an hour down it in Franklin. We know the difference between Verot School Road north of Fortune and south of it, and we'd like to put that to work for you.
The numbers for Acadiana
Income limit, effective July 13, 2026.$122,800 for a household of 1 to 4 people. $162,100 for 5 to 8. That's total household income from every adult who will live in the home, whether or not they're on the loan. The limits reset every summer; we'll confirm the current figure when you call.
Down payment. None required. Closing costs can often be covered by the seller or rolled in when the appraisal allows.
Property. Primary residence only, in an eligible area, in acceptable condition. No camps, no rentals.
Not eligible? Keep reading. Conventional 3% down, FHA and Home Possible cover most of the addresses inside the Lafayette line, and we'll tell you which fits before you look at a house.
Program facts verified against USDA sources September 2026. Subject to change and to full program guidelines. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any government agency.
Where the Lafayette line actually runs
Everything below was read off the USDA eligibility map in September 2026 and described with the roads you already use. It's a sketch to help you picture the map, not the map itself. The rule for every block is the same: likely eligible, always confirm.
North: Gloria Switch is the line
Driving north on I-49 or the Evangeline Thruway, the ineligible area ends at East Gloria Switch Road. Butcher Switch Road, a mile south, is still inside it. Cross Gloria Switch and you're in eligible territory, which covers Carencro and everything north toward Sunset and Arnaudville. On the west side, North University Avenue is the rough edge; the Highway 182 corridor toward Renaud Drive is mostly eligible with a few small pockets that aren't. On the east, the line meanders out past Moss Street toward the bayou, and the neighborhoods off Shadow Bluff Drive near the I-10 interchange sit right on it. Mouton is inside the ineligible area.
Carencro: likely eligible, always confirm. Between Butcher Switch and Gloria Switch: check the address.
West: Ambassador Caffery is the line
This is the simple side of town. Heading west on I-10 or Cameron Street, the ineligible area ends about where Ambassador Caffery Parkway crosses. Scott is eligible, and so is everything past it toward Duson and Rayne. South of Cameron, Westgate Road is the rough edge: west of Westgate on Eraste Landry or Dulles Drive is eligible, east of Ambassador toward the UL campus is not. The neighborhoods off Renaud Drive north of the interstate sit right on the line.
Scott, Duson, Rayne: likely eligible, always confirm. Inside the Ambassador loop: not eligible. Renaud Drive: check the address.
Southwest: Highway 733 is the line
Heading out Johnston Street past Acadiana Mall, the ineligible area ends about where Highway 733 crosses. From there southwest toward Maurice and Abbeville, you're in eligible territory. West of the mall it's less tidy: Ridge Road is ineligible from Rue de Belier in toward town and eligible from Lagneaux Road out, and there are a few eligible pockets tucked in right behind the mall that nobody would guess from the street.
Landmark: Acadiana Mall is not eligible. Past 733 toward Maurice: likely eligible, always confirm. Between the mall and 733, or off Ridge Road: check the address.
South: Fortune Road is the line
Coming south out of Lafayette on Verot School Road, the ineligible area ends just before Fortune Road. Once you cross Fortune, you're in eligible territory, and it stays that way through Youngsville, New Flanders and down Highway 92 and Highway 89. On the Youngsville Highway side, the landmark is Ambassador Caffery Parkway: south of the parkway is eligible, north of it toward Albertson Parkway gets patchy fast.
Youngsville, south of Fortune Road or south of Ambassador Caffery: likely eligible, always confirm. Between Kaliste Saloom and Fortune Road: check the address.
East: Highway 90 is the line, then the parish line
Coming out of Lafayette on Highway 90 toward New Iberia, the ineligible area stays on the Lafayette side of the highway from the airport down to Southpark Road. Cross to the Broussard side and you're eligible: South Bernard Road, West Main Street, Highway 729, the whole town and on toward St. Martinville and New Iberia. Between Broussard and Youngsville, the line bends west along Pinhook and the Youngsville Highway and leaves a few pockets around Bonin Road and Failla Road. Farther north, on Carmel Drive and Mills Highway, the ineligible area ends about where Lafayette Parish does, just past Larabee. Long Bridge, Lake Martin Road, Prairie Highway and Breaux Bridge are all eligible. One oddity: a small eligible pocket around Webb Street near Larabee, inside the city, qualifies while the streets around it don't.
Broussard east of Highway 90, Breaux Bridge, Long Bridge, St. Martin Parish: likely eligible, always confirm. Pinhook and Youngsville Highway between the two towns: check the address.
The checkerboard in between
South Lafayette grew faster than the census could keep up with. In the stretch between Kaliste Saloom, Verot School Road, Vincent Road and East Broussard Road, some census blocks were still cane fields at the last count and some had already turned into subdivisions. The result is a map that alternates orange and white, sometimes street by street. A real example from September 2026: 136 Bramber Drive, off Verot School Road, comes back eligible. The Founders Street and Rustburg neighborhoods a few hundred yards south do not. Cross Verot School to the east and you're back in orange. Cross Anselm Coulee to the west and it opens up again. Nobody can eyeball that from the street, and some of the nicest new neighborhoods in the parish are on the eligible side without knowing it.
Anywhere in this box: check the address, including the house next door to the one that just qualified.
This is a rough sketch to help you picture the map, not the map itself. USDA draws the line by census block, it does not follow streets exactly, and it changes when towns annex. Check the actual address every time you look at a house, even one across the street from the last one. It takes a minute and we'll do it with you. Verified against the USDA eligibility map September 2026.
Can one side of a road be eligible and the other side not?
Yes. USDA draws its eligible areas along census block lines, and census blocks follow roads, so when a city's boundary lands on a highway it usually runs down the middle of it. The houses on one side qualify for zero down. The houses across the street don't. It's not common, but we've run into it, and it's worth knowing before you fall for a house on a boundary road.
There's one more wrinkle right on the line. The map places your address as a pin, and on a boundary road that pin can land a few feet to either side of where the house actually sits. Sometimes the map says "unable to determine" and asks you to drop the pin yourself. Sometimes it gives an answer USDA changes once they see the real lot. The map's own disclaimer says the final call is Rural Development's, not the website's.
Here's what we do about it. If a house you like is on or near a boundary road, we don't guess and we don't let the pin guess. We check the address, we check the parcel, and if there's any doubt we ask the USDA state office for a determination before you write the offer. It costs nothing and it usually takes a few days. It's a small thing, and it's exactly the kind of small thing a specialist is for.
The rest of Acadiana
Outside the Lafayette line, the map is quiet. New Iberia, Jeanerette, St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge, Parks, Cade, Abbeville, Kaplan, Erath, Maurice, Milton, Crowley, Rayne, Church Point and Duson all sit in eligible areas on the current map. Opelousas, Eunice and Ville Platte are on our list to confirm and add. If your town is in Acadia, Vermilion, Iberia, St. Martin, St. Landry or Evangeline Parish and isn't named here, the odds are good; run the address and we'll tell you in a minute.
If your address doesn't qualify
Inside the Lafayette line, you still have good options and we'll put them side by side for you: conventional loans with 3% down, FHA with 3.5% down, and Home Possible or HomeReady for buyers under the income cap, plus Louisiana Housing Corporation down payment assistance when it fits. The difference between programs is usually a few thousand dollars at closing and a few dollars a month for the life of the loan, and it's worth ten minutes to get it right.
We know towns like yours, because we spend half our time in one
Our second home is on Bayou Teche in Franklin, an hour down Highway 90 from Broussard, in a sugar cane town of about 6,000 people. We know that in a town that size the bank on Main Street is a good bank, and that if you walk in asking about a Rural Development loan you may be talking to someone who does one or two a year. That's nobody's fault. It's just what small-town banking looks like now. We'd like to be the person Acadiana can call for the loans that need a specialist, from Cade to Church Point, and we'll come to you.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Borrow Louisiana and Nexa Lending are not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or any government agency. Eligibility is determined by property address and household income under current USDA guidelines and can change. Information verified September 2026.