Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Arcadia earn less than in almost any other U.S. town
Measured by household income, Arcadia is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 42.1% of residents live below the poverty line, against 18.9% across Louisiana. Arcadia grades D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Arcadia apart
Arcadia is where the jobs are
Arcadia has 2,342 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,800 people are in town, 50% more than the 2,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Arcadia workers earn over $40,000 a year
34% of Arcadia’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Arcadia makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Arcadia are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Arcadia residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
The biggest group of Arcadia’s workers comes from Ruston
149 of the people who work in Arcadia live in Ruston, 17 miles away, more than from any other town. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Arcadia
On income, poverty and job access, Arcadia is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #144 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Arcadia’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($24,860, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (4.4%) is left out: Arcadia’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Arcadia stays D−.
The daily commute in and out of Arcadia
On a workday 692 residents head out to work, 390 work right here, and 1,952 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Arcadia on a workday afternoon, 50% more than live here.
2.2 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.
Arcadia works in goods: 43% of its jobs
2,342 jobs are based in Arcadia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arcadia, 2013 → 2023: 2,683 → 2,342. 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 Arcadia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Arcadia
Where Arcadia clocks in
10% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, about the LA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arcadia workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 753 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.
Arcadia’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
For most of Arcadia, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arcadia is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #124 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Louisiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 795 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). 19.7% of Arcadia households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arcadia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Arcadia next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 423 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Sparta Township PA | 1,884 | $58K | 33.9% | 14.2% | 4% | D− |
| 4,594 | Springhill Township PA | 2,622 | $45K | 23.2% | 9.4% | 2% | D− |
| 4,595 | Arcadia LA | 2,534 | $25K | 42.1% | 4.4% | 36% | D− |
| 4,596 | Petersburg WV | 2,282 | $43K | 19.5% | 2.1% | 30% | D− |
| 4,597 | Belington WV | 1,809 | $49K | 25.2% | 5.7% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Arcadia, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
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 Arcadia: questions
What is the median household income in Arcadia?
$24,860 (±$11,605) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arcadia?
42.1%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arcadia?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arcadia work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ruston (10%, 17 mi), Minden (5%, 21 mi), Shreveport (5%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arcadia walkable?
Arcadia is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arcadia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arcadia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arcadia
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.