Unemployment puts Cayenne near the very top of French communes of 1,000+
There are 30,150 jobs in Cayenne and 19,450 residents with a job. For jobs and income, Cayenne earns a grade of C+: #1 of 15 in French Guiana.
Work in Cayenne: the figures worth knowing
A local job center
30,150 jobs are based in Cayenne for 19,450 residents in work; the median commune of 1,000+ has 0.6 jobs per resident in work. The town draws workers from the communes around it. Jobs and residents ↓
More unemployment than most communes
7,730 of the 26,650 people aged 15 to 64 in Cayenne’s labor force said they were looking for work at the 2023 census; in the median commune of 1,000+ it is 8.5%. Unemployment ↓
Many get to work without a car
16% of residents in work walk, cycle or take public transport to work, against 8% in the median commune of 1,000+; 100% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery. Walkability ↓
Written from the data on this page: INSEE census 2023, Filosofi 2023 and the BPE 2025 amenity directory.
Cayenne earns C+ for jobs and income
Better than 40% of compared communes of 1,000+ once its two measures are combined: #1 of 15 in French Guiana.
Its strongest measure is jobs per resident in work; its weakest, unemployment.
INSEE publishes no commune income here (Filosofi doesn’t cover Guadeloupe, Martinique or French Guiana), so the grade uses the other two.
How the grade works
Each measure is ranked against every French commune of 1,000 residents or more (higher income and more jobs per resident in work are better; lower unemployment is better). The ranks are averaged, at least two of the three being needed, and the average is ranked again to give the letter. Nothing else on this page is graded.
Cayenne draws workers in: 1.6 times as many jobs as residents in work
At least 10,700 of the jobs in Cayenne are held by people who live elsewhere, more if some residents work outside the town. The median commune of 1,000+ has 0.6 jobs per resident in work.
Cayenne has more jobs per resident in work than 14 of the other 14.
The 2023 census counts jobs where people work and residents where they live.
29.0% of Cayenne’s labor force aged 15 to 64 is unemployed
Each dot is another town of 2,500+ in French Guiana with a Jobs & income Grade: Cayenne has less unemployment than 7 of these 14.
Unemployment in Cayenne rose from 26.2% in 2012 to 29.0% in 2023; in the median commune of 1,000+ in French Guiana it went from 36.7% to 29.0%.
Census unemployment aged 15 to 64 (self-declared; not the ILO rate, not monthly), on today’s commune boundaries. Each census year pools five years of surveys (more around 2021, when the survey was delayed a year), so INSEE advises comparing years at least five apart, six when 2019–2023 is involved, as these are; how the census asks about work also changed from 2015, so read changes since 2012 with care. The other lines are the median commune of 1,000+, not official rates.
Census unemployment is what people aged 15 to 64 say about themselves (looking for work), as a share of those in work or looking. It runs higher than France’s official (ILO) rate and isn’t a jobseeker count.
Census 2023.
Everyday places within walking distance in Cayenne
Not graded: INSEE’s 200 m population grid doesn’t cover French Guiana, and measuring from the town’s point alone proved unreliable. The share of residents living within 800 m (half a mile) of each everyday place, measured in a straight line from where they live.
100% of Cayenne’s residents live within 800 m of a bakery, against 64% in the median commune of 1,000+.
Straight-line distance is a proxy: a river, railway or motorway can make the walk longer. Places: INSEE’s permanent amenity directory (BPE) 2025; where people live: INSEE’s 200 m population grid (Filosofi 2021). This town has no 200 m grid, so the shares are measured from the town’s point and aren’t graded.
14,700 people come into Cayenne to work, most from Remire-Montjoly and Matoury
- Remire-Montjoly5,620
- Matoury4,530
- Macouria2,460
- Kourou450
- Montsinéry-Tonnegrande380
- Roura330
- Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni200
- Remire-Montjoly1,750
- Matoury1,640
- Kourou280
- Macouria270
49% of the people who work in Cayenne live outside it; Remire-Montjoly, 4.6 mi away, sends the most (5,620). Going the other way, Remire-Montjoly is the biggest single destination (1,750).
INSEE, 2023 census, home-to-work flows (published June 2026): residents in work aged 15 and over by commune of home and of work. Weighted survey estimates, rounded to 10. People living abroad who work here aren’t counted.
The communes that send the most workers into Cayenne, and those where its residents most often work: 2023 census, by home and workplace commune. Routes of 100 people or fewer aren’t listed; those under 200 are approximate (≈).
Out of the car: 16% of Cayenne’s residents in work
The census records one main mode per person, the one used for the longest part of the journey. Département and France: every commune’s residents in work together.
78% of people in work who live in Cayenne also work there (no distance at all, as we measure it), so there is no median distance to give; 3% travel 30 km or more.
Distances are straight lines between commune points (the town centres INSEE and IGN give), not routes or journey times; working in your own commune counts as 0 km and falls in the first band. Workplaces abroad or outside our communes have no distance, so the bands add up to less than 100%. Département and France: residents in work of every commune of 1,000+ together.
The main way residents in work aged 15 and over get to work, 2023 census. “No travel” is mostly people who work at home.
How jobseekers in French Guiana compare with France
Over the 12 months to August 2026, there were on average 15.1 registered jobseekers in category A per 100 residents aged 15 to 64 in French Guiana (27,300 people), against 7.9 across France. In 2015 it was 12.8.
France Travail – DARES, monthly registrations at the end of each month (not seasonally adjusted, so we average 12 months), people of every age, per 100 residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2023 census. Registrations count people signed up with France Travail, whether or not they receive benefits. Since January 2025 people claiming RSA, young people followed by a mission locale and people followed by Cap emploi are registered automatically, so counts since then aren’t comparable with earlier ones (the 12-month average takes a year to absorb the change); spring 2025 brought further changes to updating and sanctions. In 2022 a new monthly update form moved some people from category A to B or C.
Registered jobseekers per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, French Guiana: people registered with France Travail in category A (looking for work, with no work at all in the month), averaged over 12 months, since 2015. This is the département’s figure, not Cayenne’s, and not an unemployment rate.
Cayenne is 53rd of 130 French towns of 44,000 to 85,000 for jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Jobs per worker | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Issy-les-Moulineaux Hauts-de-Seine | 67,669 | 2.0 | 7.5% | €37,740 | A+ |
| 2 | Neuilly-sur-Seine Hauts-de-Seine | 59,538 | 2.0 | 8.1% | €56,030 | A+ |
| 3 | Paris 7e Paris | 48,015 | 3.1 | 8.5% | €52,840 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 51 | Montauban Tarn-et-Garonne | 62,945 | 1.6 | 12.5% | €24,600 | C+ |
| 52 | Saint-Priest Rhône | 49,229 | 2.0 | 12.5% | €24,110 | C+ |
| 53 | Cayenne French Guiana | 62,675 | 1.6 | 29.0% | — | C+ |
| 54 | La Rochelle Charente-Maritime | 79,851 | 1.7 | 14.4% | €24,960 | C+ |
| 55 | Laval Mayenne | 49,400 | 1.8 | 12.4% | €24,120 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 78 | Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni French Guiana | 54,429 | 1.0 | 40.4% | — | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 130 | Le Blanc-Mesnil Seine-Saint-Denis | 62,376 | 0.5 | 17.1% | €19,630 | D− |
Jobs & income letters rank against every French commune of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only. Income: median per consumption unit.
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Cayenne, and others in French Guiana.
Jobs and income in the places around Cayenne
| Town | Jobs | Per worker | Unemployment | Income | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cayenne | 30,150 | 1.6 | 29.0% | — | C+ | — |
| Remire-Montjoly 4.6 mi | 7,140 | 0.6 | 17.4% | — | D | — |
| Matoury 6.1 mi | 8,650 | 0.8 | 30.5% | — | D | — |
| Macouria 10.9 mi | 2,460 | 0.4 | 27.9% | — | D− | — |
| Montsinéry-Tonnegrande 11.3 mi | 510 | 0.5 | 22.5% | — | D− | — |
| Roura 14.5 mi | 1,260 | 0.8 | 11.9% | — | C | — |
Jobs based in each place, jobs per resident in work, unemployment and median income per consumption unit, with each town’s Jobs & income and Walkability letters.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Jobs in the commune. INSEE’s census count of jobs whose place of work is in the commune, held by residents or by people who commute in.
- Residents in work. People aged 15 or over who live in the commune and have a job, wherever it is (INSEE’s “actifs occupés”).
- Unemployment. From the census: people aged 15 to 64 who say they are unemployed, as a share of the labor force (those in work or looking). Higher than the official ILO rate.
- Income per consumption unit. Filosofi’s median disposable income per consumption unit: the household’s income after tax and benefits, divided to allow for its size, so a couple with children compares with a single person. It isn’t household income.
- Walkability. Six everyday places (bakery, pharmacy, grocery, primary school, GP, post office) within 800 m in a straight line, averaged over where residents live, together with the share of residents in work who walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
- Compared communes of 1,000+. Every French commune of 1,000 residents or more, the pool the grades rank against; “median” is the one in the middle. The dots show the département’s towns of 2,500+, the pool of its rank.
Questions about work in Cayenne
Is Cayenne a good place for work?
Cayenne grades C+ for jobs and income, better than 40% of compared communes of 1,000+, and #1 of 15 in French Guiana. It has 1.6 jobs per resident in work and 29.0% unemployment among 15- to 64-year-olds.
How many jobs are there in Cayenne?
About 30,150 at the 2023 census, for 19,450 residents in work: 1.6 per resident in work, against 0.6 in the median commune of 1,000+.
What is the unemployment rate in Cayenne?
29.0% of the labor force aged 15 to 64 at the 2023 census (7,730 people), against 8.5% in the median commune of 1,000+. The census rate is self-declared and runs higher than the official ILO rate.
How do people in Cayenne get to work?
72% drive, 5% take public transport, 8% walk and 3% cycle; 4% don’t travel, mostly because they work at home (2023 census).
Can you get by on foot in Cayenne?
100% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, 100% of a pharmacy and 100% of a grocery, measured in a straight line.
Sources: INSEE, population census 2023 (employment, jobs at place of work, mode of transport to work) · INSEE, 2023 census, home-to-work flows (June 2026); distances between commune points by TownRatings · INSEE, censuses 2012, 2017 and 2023 on 2026 boundaries (activity and unemployment) · France Travail – DARES, registered jobseekers by département, monthly (updated September 2026) · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (income per consumption unit, poverty rate) · INSEE, permanent amenity directory (BPE) 2025 · INSEE, Filosofi 200 m grid 2021 · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.