Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Colfax ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Measured by household income, Colfax is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 37.3% of residents (Louisiana 18.9%). The two grades for Colfax are D− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Colfax apart on work
The biggest group of Colfax’s workers comes from Shreveport
97 of the people who work in Colfax live in Shreveport, 92 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Colfax is where the jobs are
Colfax has 1,246 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,200 people are in town, 58% more than the 1,400 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 439 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Colfax
On income, poverty and job access, Colfax is better than 2% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Colfax’s grade up (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($26,250, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.8%) is left out: Colfax’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, Colfax could be anywhere from D− to D.
Who travels to work in Colfax, and from where
Where Colfax clocks in
21% of workers
5% 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.
How many people are in Colfax by day
On a workday 353 residents head out to work, 86 work right here, and 1,160 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Colfax on a workday afternoon, 58% more than live here.
2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Colfax
About 32% 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.
Inside Colfax’s 1,246 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colfax, 2013 → 2023: 1,156 → 1,246. 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 Colfax’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Colfax: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colfax workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 308 commuters (the 5% 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.
Colfax is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colfax is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Colfax near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 323 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). 29.2% of Colfax households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colfax’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Colfax sits among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 353 | Paulina LA | 1,785 | $89K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 543 | Sorrento LA | 1,622 | $118K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 568 | Cade LA | 1,710 | $73K | 6.0% | 1.5% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,583 | Cripple Creek CO | 1,120 | $42K | 20.3% | 9.7% | 35% | D− |
| 5,584 | Griggsville IL | 1,047 | $37K | 23.4% | 4.4% | 5% | D− |
| 5,585 | Colfax LA | 1,393 | $26K | 37.3% | 5.8% | 20% | D− |
| 5,586 | Ringgold LA | 1,314 | $31K | 33.8% | 14.3% | 10% | D− |
| 5,587 | Bernice LA | 1,305 | $26K | 28.1% | 4.6% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Colfax, 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 Colfax: questions
What is the median household income in Colfax?
$26,250 (±$7,217) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colfax?
37.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colfax?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colfax work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alexandria (21%, 21 mi), Pineville (5%, 21 mi), Baton Rouge (3%, 119 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colfax walkable?
Colfax is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colfax without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 29% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colfax, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colfax
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.