Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Alexandria earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Alexandria itself; outside it, Pineville draws the most (7%, 5 miles). 27.0% of residents are in poverty (Louisiana 18.9%). Jobs and income earn Alexandria C−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Alexandria
Alexandria is where the jobs are
Alexandria has 32,163 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Alexandria are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Alexandria draws workers from far and wide
The 32,163 jobs in Alexandria are filled from a wide area. Alexandria’s own residents hold 25% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Alexandria’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alexandria is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #106 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Alexandria’s grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alexandria could be anywhere from D to C.
Who works in Alexandria, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 7,466 residents head out to work, 7,897 work right here, and 24,266 people come in from elsewhere.
About 60,000 people are in Alexandria on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Alexandria spends getting to work: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alexandria workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 17,716 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Commuting in to Alexandria: where workers come from
Where Alexandria clocks in
7% of workers
2% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What work there is in Alexandria: 32,163 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alexandria, 2013 → 2023: 35,039 → 32,163. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alexandria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Alexandria
About 24% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Alexandria
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alexandria is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #27 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Alexandria near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,667 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.1% of Alexandria households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Alexandria’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Alexandria sits among U.S. towns of 30,000 to 58,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Prairieville LA | 35,238 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Central LA | 30,313 | $90K | 5.4% | 2.2% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 942 | Marrero LA | 32,540 | $41K | 23.0% | 8.2% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 948 | Spartanburg SC | 39,978 | $52K | 23.8% | 7.4% | 26% | C− |
| 949 | Paragould AR | 31,135 | $57K | 17.8% | 7.2% | 45% | C− |
| 950 | Alexandria LA | 42,938 | $47K | 27.0% | 5.2% | 51% | C− |
| 951 | Center Township IN | 46,120 | $51K | 19.3% | 7.4% | 41% | C− |
| 952 | Atwater CA | 32,133 | $64K | 21.0% | 12.3% | 11% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Alexandria, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
The towns around Alexandria
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alexandria workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria | – | C− | A− | 17 min | $47,113 |
| Pineville | 7% | C | B+ | 17 min | $49,774 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pineville. Darker towns draw more of Alexandria’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alexandria: questions
What is the median household income in Alexandria?
$47,113 (±$3,559) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alexandria?
27.0%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alexandria?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alexandria work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pineville (7%, 5 mi), Baton Rouge (2%, 99 mi), Lafayette (2%, 80 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alexandria walkable?
Alexandria is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alexandria without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alexandria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alexandria
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.