Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 4.0Baldwin has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Below the poverty line: 26.9% of residents; Louisiana has 18.9%. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Jobs and income earn Baldwin D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Baldwin apart
Baldwin and Franklin trade workers both ways
Franklin is the top workplace for Baldwin residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Baldwin come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Baldwin than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Baldwin fell from 445 in 2013 to 267 in 2023, −40%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Baldwin workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 530 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Baldwin
On income, poverty and job access, Baldwin is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Baldwin’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($31,669, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Baldwin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Baldwin could be anywhere from D to C−.
18% of working residents work in Franklin
Where Baldwin clocks in
18% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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 Baldwin: 267 jobs
267 jobs are based in Baldwin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Baldwin, 2013 → 2023: 445 → 267. 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 Baldwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Baldwin: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Baldwin workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 568 commuters (the 1% 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.
Baldwin quiets down on a workday
On a workday 518 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 255 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Baldwin on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.50 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.
Half of Baldwin commutes less than 38 miles
About 30% 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.
The commute in Baldwin is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Baldwin is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% of 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 575 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). 39.0% of Baldwin households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Baldwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Baldwin is 5,004th of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Presquille LA | 2,062 | $112K | 1.1% | 14.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,002 | Lavonia GA | 2,200 | $37K | 26.8% | 11.6% | 17% | D |
| 5,003 | Dunkirk IN | 2,097 | $46K | 22.6% | 4.9% | 7% | D |
| 5,004 | Baldwin LA | 1,676 | $32K | 26.9% | 1.2% | 2% | D |
| 5,005 | Shannon MS | 1,496 | $42K | 24.1% | 8.9% | 4% | D |
| 5,006 | Bayboro NC | 1,242 | $34K | 12.2% | 1.4% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Baldwin, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
The towns around Baldwin
The biggest share goes to Charenton (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Baldwin’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 Baldwin: questions
What is the median household income in Baldwin?
$31,669 (±$11,672) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Baldwin?
26.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Baldwin?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Baldwin work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Franklin (18%, 5 mi), Lafayette (6%, 38 mi), Baton Rouge (6%, 49 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Baldwin walkable?
Baldwin is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Baldwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 39% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Baldwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Baldwin
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.