Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,534, settled in 1851.
Arcadia earns a D, 119th of 161 graded towns in Louisiana, mostly because of health and incomes. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. The median household income is $25K, and 42% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: its schools outperform 71% of the state's. 42% of residents live below the poverty line in Arcadia, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 20% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On hazard risk, just 25 of Louisiana’s 255 towns do better. Arcadia has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Arcadia Colored High School Historic District.
Where Arcadia beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Crawford Elementary School | PK–5 | 278 |
| Arcadia High School | 6–12 | 248 |
| Widest gap | Arcadia | LA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 23.4% | 12.4% |
Where Arcadia’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Louisiana), ordered by how far Arcadia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 862 in 1890, 2,746 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2020 and 4 maps from 1950 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Arcadia, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Arcadia.
Arcadia carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Louisiana (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from Ruston and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Against the 206 U.S. towns with household incomes like Arcadia’s, it is less healthy than 81%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
Just over a fifth of adults report frequent mental distress in Arcadia. Against the Louisiana average, Arcadia comes out ahead on 3 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 19. No town among the 161 in Louisiana we compare has a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Arcadia. Among adults here, 25% have diabetes and 46% get no exercise outside work.
| Arcadia | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 27% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 16% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 34% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Arcadia | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.3% | 16.9% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.3% | 78.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 23.4% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Bienville Parish school district runs its public schools. Its two schools are below. The 2 public schools in Arcadia teach 526 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crawford Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 278 | C− |
| Arcadia High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 248 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within LA on state tests and graduation
2,342 jobs are based in Arcadia, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Among working residents in Arcadia, 36% work locally. Employers in Arcadia shed 341 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 2,342. Half of commuters travel less than 17 miles. The top destinations are Ruston (10%), Minden (5%) and Shreveport (5%).
| Arcadia | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 36% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $25,000 | $56,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Values fell 9.5% in the past year while the Louisiana typical home rose 2.1%. The typical value, about $104K, is 30% below its November 2020 peak.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values slipped 9.5%. For households in Arcadia, the share who are owner-occupiers is 52%. Also worth knowing: the town’s midpoint rent is $705 a month.
| Arcadia | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $705 a month | $992 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 87% of Louisiana towns, with expected losses of about $589 per resident a year; that rating is what its B+ for hazard risk is built on.
Households in Arcadia have drawn federal disaster aid in 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. Its risk rating from FEMA stands at 32 of 100. Since 1979, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out locally. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 25% come from inland flooding and 22% from ice storms.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 34.8°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 97% of Louisiana places with climate records; July afternoons average 92.2°.
Arcadia brings mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. Its July high is 92°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| Arcadia | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 92°F | 92°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 42°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arcadia. Close and well known come first.
9 mi MountainDriskill Mountain
16 mi GardenLouisiana Tech University Arboretum
17 mi TheatreDixie Center for the ArtsDriskill Mountain: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Louisiana Tech University Arboretum: Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dixie Center for the Arts: Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Arcadia
About 6 of every 100 Arcadia residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Louisiana.
7 notable people were born in Arcadia.
Town in Louisiana, United States
Arcadia is a town in and the parish seat of Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Arcadia had a population of 2,746. Arcadia has the highest elevation of any incorporated municipality in Louisiana. Arcadia's name commemorates the Ancient Greek region of Arcadia.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Arcadia grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #119 of 161 in Louisiana. It grades D− for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3 years of the area's median household income ($35,011 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
7 notable people were born here, including Fred Dean and Teddy Grace.
