Photo: Chris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Crowley are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Crowley is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 47.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 18.9% across Louisiana. The two grades for Crowley 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
Jobs and commuting in Crowley: the gist
Crowley is where the jobs are
Crowley has 6,376 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Crowley draws workers from far and wide
The 6,376 jobs in Crowley are filled from a wide area. Crowley’s own residents hold 19% and the ten next-biggest home towns 18%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Crowley workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Crowley’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Inside Crowley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Crowley is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #137 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Crowley’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Crowley stays D.
Who works in Crowley, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,962 residents head out to work, 1,223 work right here, and 5,153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Crowley on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.5 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.
The towns that send workers to Crowley
Where Crowley clocks in
16% of workers
4% 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.
Jobs in Crowley: what the 6,376 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Crowley, 2013 → 2023: 6,359 → 6,376. 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 Crowley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Crowley, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Crowley workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,453 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.
Miles to work from Crowley
About 26% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Crowley
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Crowley is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #17 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Crowley 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 3,610 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). 17.5% of Crowley households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Crowley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Crowley and other U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 337 | Belle Chasse LA | 10,934 | $115K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 704 | Mandeville LA | 12,918 | $94K | 7.1% | 2.9% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 820 | Moss Bluff LA | 12,482 | $92K | 8.9% | 1.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,438 | Pease Township OH | 12,375 | $51K | 23.2% | 9.7% | 15% | D |
| 2,439 | Arcadia FL | 8,046 | $40K | 31.8% | 5.7% | 19% | D |
| 2,440 | Crowley LA | 11,223 | $29K | 47.7% | 14.3% | 29% | D |
| 2,441 | Benton Harbor MI | 8,803 | $31K | 40.1% | 21.6% | 7% | D |
| 2,442 | Woodlake CA | 8,073 | $46K | 25.3% | 11.0% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Crowley, 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 Crowley: questions
What is the median household income in Crowley?
$28,642 (±$4,446) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Crowley?
47.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Crowley?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Crowley work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (16%, 21 mi), Baton Rouge (4%, 76 mi), Rayne (2%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Crowley walkable?
Crowley is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Crowley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Crowley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Crowley
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.