Blanchard has higher unemployment (8.5%) than 90% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute from Blanchard lasts 22 minutes (Louisiana 26, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Blanchard C; getting around on foot earns it C. Only 2% work in Blanchard itself; outside it, Shreveport draws the most (51%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Blanchard: the figures worth knowing
More than half of Blanchard works in Shreveport
720 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Shreveport, 11 miles away. That’s 26 times as many as work in Blanchard itself. The commute map ↓
Blanchard is a place people come home to
There are 340 jobs based in Blanchard, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Blanchard has about 2,300 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Blanchard makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Blanchard are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Blanchard residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. 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.
Why Blanchard gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Blanchard is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #63 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Blanchard’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Blanchard could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where Blanchard’s working residents head each day
Where Blanchard clocks in
51% of workers
13% of workers
2% 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.
A workday in Blanchard: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,394 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 315 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Blanchard on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.24 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.
Making and building: 40% of jobs based in Blanchard
340 jobs are based in Blanchard.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blanchard, 2013 → 2023: 211 → 340. 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 Blanchard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Blanchard’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blanchard workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,373 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Blanchard
About 16% 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.
Driving is how Blanchard gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Blanchard is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #116 of 161 in Louisiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,432 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). 4.0% of Blanchard households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Blanchard’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,876th of 4,269: where Blanchard ranks among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 725 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 886 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,874 | Guerneville CA | 4,100 | $81K | 10.0% | 7.3% | 13% | C |
| 2,875 | Nome AK | 3,653 | $114K | 8.8% | 9.0% | — | C |
| 2,876 | Blanchard LA | 3,360 | $75K | 12.5% | 8.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,877 | Lisbon OH | 2,496 | $47K | 25.9% | 2.3% | 13% | C |
| 2,878 | Dayton OR | 2,647 | $91K | 13.7% | 10.7% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,269 | 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 Blanchard, 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 Blanchard: questions
What is the median household income in Blanchard?
$75,069 (±$27,030) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blanchard?
12.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blanchard?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blanchard work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shreveport (51%, 11 mi), Bossier City (13%, 14 mi), Baton Rouge (2%, 220 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blanchard walkable?
Blanchard is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blanchard without a car?
0% 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 Blanchard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blanchard
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.