A new estimate puts the population of New Orleans at 70 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina level.
Katrina slammed the Gulf coast in August 2005, sending several hundred thousand Louisiana evacuees to Texas.
Many ended up in the Houston area.
The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, which relies on U.S. Postal Service data, says 138,683 households received mail in September.
That compares to 198,232 households in July 2005.
The rate of growth in September was about half the monthly average of new households getting mail from August 2006 to August 2007.But the center’s deputy director says that was expected and that the population is expected to rise with federal rebuilding aid yet to be paid to some hurricane-affected homeowners.