Photo: TJM · CC BY 2.0Chalmette has higher unemployment (9.0%) than 92% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Chalmette C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 18.8 in New Orleans.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Chalmette
Chalmette trades workers with the towns around it
Chalmette has about as many jobs (8,024) as working residents (9,022), but they are mostly different people: 7,608 residents leave for work each day while 6,610 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Chalmette are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Chalmette’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 29 minutes, longer than the Louisiana average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Chalmette and New Orleans trade workers both ways
New Orleans is the top workplace for Chalmette residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Chalmette come from (15% of its jobs). 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.
Inside Chalmette’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chalmette is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #96 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Chalmette’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chalmette could be anywhere from C− to C.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 7,608 residents head out to work, 1,414 work right here, and 6,610 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Chalmette’s commute takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chalmette workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,592 commuters (the 9% 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.
32% of working residents work in New Orleans
Where Chalmette clocks in
32% of workers
9% 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 kinds of work in Chalmette
8,024 jobs are based in Chalmette.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chalmette, 2013 → 2023: 7,963 → 8,024. 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 Chalmette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Chalmette
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Chalmette
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chalmette is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #31 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 9,427 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.9% of Chalmette households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chalmette’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000, Chalmette ranks 1,531st of 1,712 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 369 | Central LA | 30,313 | $90K | 5.4% | 2.2% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Youngsville LA | 19,980 | $106K | 9.1% | 1.2% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,089 | Zachary LA | 20,621 | $84K | 8.5% | 6.9% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,529 | East Chicago IN | 25,610 | $42K | 26.3% | 7.7% | 16% | C− |
| 1,530 | Fort Dodge IA | 24,837 | $61K | 15.9% | 6.0% | 51% | C− |
| 1,531 | Chalmette LA | 22,616 | $55K | 24.9% | 9.0% | 16% | C− |
| 1,532 | Phelan CA | 18,496 | $80K | 12.7% | 12.9% | 8% | C− |
| 1,533 | Berea SC | 16,862 | $50K | 22.9% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Chalmette, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Work next door: 34% of Chalmette’s workers
The biggest share goes to New Orleans (32%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chalmette workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalmette | – | C− | A− | 29 min | $54,904 |
| Arabi | 2% | C− | A− | 28 min | $56,813 |
| Meraux | under 2% | B | B− | 33 min | $76,021 |
| New Orleans | 32% | C | A+ | 23 min | $56,631 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Chalmette’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 Chalmette: questions
What is the median household income in Chalmette?
$54,904 (±$7,517) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chalmette?
24.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chalmette?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chalmette work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (32%, 8 mi), Metairie (9%, 13 mi), Elmwood (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chalmette walkable?
Chalmette is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chalmette without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chalmette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chalmette
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.