Photo: Infrogmation · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Arabi (9.4%) is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 9.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 18.8 in New Orleans. For jobs and income Arabi is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (A−). Only 3% stay in Arabi for work; outside it, New Orleans is the main destination (36%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Arabi stands out on work
Much of Arabi works one town over
49% of working residents work in a town that borders Arabi: New Orleans (36%) and Chalmette (13%). Next door ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Arabi’s working residents have a job less than 6 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 28 minutes, longer than the Louisiana average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Most Arabi residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Arabi has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Arabi went from 1,064 in 2013 to 1,605 in 2023, +51%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Arabi pay better than its residents’ jobs
74% of the jobs based in Arabi pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 57% of the jobs Arabi residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Arabi. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Arabi’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Arabi’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arabi could be anywhere from C− to B−.
About 28 minutes to work from Arabi
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arabi workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,931 commuters (the 7% 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.
The commute from Arabi, by distance
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.
In Arabi, 40% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
1,605 jobs are based in Arabi.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arabi, 2013 → 2023: 1,064 → 1,605. 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 Arabi’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Arabi: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,050 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 1,534 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Arabi on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Arabi’s working residents head each day
Where Arabi clocks in
36% of workers
13% of workers
8% 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.
Arabi is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,072 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 33% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.9% of Arabi households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Arabi’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200, Arabi ranks 3,042nd of 3,938 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,063 | Elmwood LA | 6,077 | $89K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,337 | Westlake LA | 4,763 | $68K | 12.1% | 0.0% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,040 | Sugarcreek PA | 4,680 | $64K | 9.9% | 6.7% | 16% | C− |
| 3,041 | Hempfield Township PA | 3,646 | $50K | 8.9% | 6.4% | 8% | C− |
| 3,042 | Arabi LA | 4,625 | $57K | 21.7% | 9.4% | 3% | C− |
| 3,043 | Long Prairie MN | 3,830 | $59K | 12.7% | 4.5% | 54% | C− |
| 3,044 | Chisholm MN | 4,625 | $51K | 14.0% | 3.9% | 20% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Arabi, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Bordering towns draw 49% of Arabi’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arabi workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arabi | – | C− | A− | 28 min | $56,813 |
| Chalmette | 13% | C− | A− | 29 min | $54,904 |
| New Orleans | 36% | C | A+ | 23 min | $56,631 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to New Orleans. Darker towns draw more of Arabi’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 Arabi: questions
What is the median household income in Arabi?
$56,813 (±$10,577) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arabi?
21.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arabi?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arabi work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (36%, 8 mi), Chalmette (13%, 2 mi), Metairie (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arabi walkable?
Arabi is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arabi without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arabi, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arabi
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.