Lincoln Theater · Photo: Tjean314 · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Baker (16.6%) is among the highest in the country
Measured by household income, Baker is behind 82% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Baker is better than 16% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (D). Only 4% work in Baker; the top destination outside it is Baton Rouge (39%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Baker in brief
Baker and Baton Rouge trade workers both ways
Baton Rouge is the top workplace for Baker residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Baker come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
41% of the jobs in Baker are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Baker workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Baker’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
How Baker earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Baker’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Baker could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where people from Baker work
Where Baker clocks in
39% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The 2,294 jobs based in Baker
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baker, 2013 → 2023: 2,750 → 2,294. 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 Baker’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Baker
On a workday 4,577 residents head out to work, 178 work right here, and 2,116 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,700 people are in Baker on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.48 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
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 Baker workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,851 commuters (the 4% 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 distance from Baker to work
About 18% 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.
Getting around Baker: mostly by car
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 5,042 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). 4.2% of Baker households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Baker’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000, Baker comes 2,416th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 366 | Belle Chasse LA | 10,934 | $115K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Mandeville LA | 12,918 | $94K | 7.1% | 2.9% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 891 | Moss Bluff LA | 12,482 | $92K | 8.9% | 1.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,414 | Sault Ste. Marie MI | 13,083 | $55K | 17.8% | 4.9% | 60% | C− |
| 2,415 | Sharon PA | 12,648 | $46K | 20.0% | 9.4% | 14% | C− |
| 2,416 | Baker LA | 12,136 | $55K | 29.8% | 16.6% | 4% | C− |
| 2,417 | Rock Island Township IL | 15,632 | $41K | 32.9% | 7.4% | 12% | C− |
| 2,418 | Center Township IN | 8,149 | $51K | 15.9% | 6.0% | 23% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Baker, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Around Baker: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Baker workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker | – | C− | D | 24 min | $54,750 |
| Brownfields | under 1% | C− | D− | 27 min | $65,929 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Baker’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 Baker: questions
What is the median household income in Baker?
$54,750 (±$12,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baker?
29.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baker?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baker work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (39%, 10 mi), Zachary (4%, 6 mi), New Orleans (3%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Baker walkable?
Baker is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Baker without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Baker, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baker
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.