Unemployment in Brownfields (19.7%) is among the highest in the country
Hardly any stay in Brownfields for work; outside it, Baton Rouge is the main destination (44%, 7 miles). For jobs and income Brownfields is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (D−). 24.3% of residents are in poverty (Louisiana 18.9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Brownfields: the figures worth knowing
44% of Brownfields works in Baton Rouge
925 working residents, 44%, have their main job in Baton Rouge, 7 miles away across the town line. That’s 44 times as many as work in Brownfields itself. The commute map ↓
Brownfields is a place people come home to
There are 340 jobs based in Brownfields, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Brownfields has about 2,500 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Brownfields pay little
28% of the jobs based in Brownfields pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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 Brownfields earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Brownfields’ grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brownfields could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where Brownfields’ working residents head each day
Where Brownfields clocks in
44% of workers
2% 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.
Who works in Brownfields, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,083 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 324 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Brownfields on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.16 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.
In Brownfields, services account for most jobs
340 jobs are based in Brownfields.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brownfields, 2013 → 2023: 394 → 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 Brownfields’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from Brownfields
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brownfields workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,718 commuters (the 3% 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.
Brownfields’ commute, mile by mile
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.
In Brownfields, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,765 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). 3.6% of Brownfields households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brownfields’ commuters take a bus or train.
Brownfields next to U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800: 3,169th of 4,039 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 926 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,353 | Westlake LA | 4,763 | $68K | 12.1% | 0.0% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | Arcadia WI | 3,840 | $75K | 16.5% | 5.6% | 21% | C− |
| 3,168 | Cahokia Township IL | 3,084 | $57K | 15.1% | 4.7% | 2% | C− |
| 3,169 | Brownfields LA | 4,261 | $66K | 24.3% | 19.7% | 1% | C− |
| 3,170 | Alfred NY | 5,147 | $41K | 37.4% | 16.4% | 24% | C− |
| 3,171 | South Glens Falls NY | 3,704 | $59K | 12.4% | 9.5% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Brownfields, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
48% of Brownfields works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brownfields workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownfields | – | C− | D− | 27 min | $65,929 |
| Central | 2% | A | C− | 29 min | $89,554 |
| Baker | 2% | C− | D | 24 min | $54,750 |
| Baton Rouge | 44% | C− | A− | 21 min | $49,994 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Baton Rouge. Darker towns draw more of Brownfields’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 Brownfields: questions
What is the median household income in Brownfields?
$65,929 (±$25,977) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brownfields?
24.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brownfields?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brownfields work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (44%, 7 mi), New Orleans (2%, 79 mi), Zachary (2%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brownfields walkable?
Brownfields is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brownfields 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 Brownfields, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brownfields
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.