Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 4.0Elmwood has 9.4 jobs for every working resident: 24,178 people commute in to work
About one in ten stay in Elmwood for work; outside it, New Orleans is the main destination (35%, 17 miles). 24,486 jobs are based in Elmwood for 2,616 working residents. Elmwood grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Elmwood and work: the main findings
Elmwood fills up on a workday
Elmwood has 24,486 jobs, 9.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 28,000 people are in town, 5 times the 6,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Elmwood residents work close to home
79% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Elmwood and New Orleans trade workers both ways
New Orleans is the top workplace for Elmwood residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Elmwood come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Elmwood are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Elmwood’s workers comes from New Orleans
4,165 of the people who work in Elmwood live in New Orleans, 17 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Elmwood earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elmwood is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #14 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Elmwood’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elmwood could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Elmwood on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,308 residents head out to work and 308 work right here.
About 28,000 people are in Elmwood on a workday afternoon, 360% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How far Elmwood’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The towns that send workers to Elmwood
Where Elmwood clocks in
35% of workers
15% of workers
6% 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 long Elmwood spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elmwood workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,905 commuters (the 10% 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.
65% of the jobs in Elmwood pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elmwood, 2014 → 2024: 24,234 → 24,486. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elmwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Elmwood, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elmwood is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #59 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 4,362 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.8% of Elmwood households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elmwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Elmwood is 982nd of 3,307 U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 177 | Addis LA | 7,679 | $108K | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 980 | Needham Township IN | 7,952 | $92K | 12.3% | 2.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 981 | Minisink NY | 4,688 | $128K | 5.1% | 4.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 982 | Elmwood LA | 6,077 | $89K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 12% | B+ |
| 983 | Mullica Township NJ | 5,853 | $93K | 8.7% | 2.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 984 | Big Flats NY | 7,406 | $87K | 5.1% | 2.8% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,230 | Westlake LA | 4,763 | $68K | 12.1% | 0.0% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,247 | Red Chute LA | 6,526 | $86K | 7.5% | 4.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,307 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Elmwood, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
How Elmwood compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Jefferson (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elmwood workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmwood | – | B+ | B+ | 18 min | $89,430 |
| Harahan | under 1% | A− | A− | 20 min | $79,516 |
| Jefferson | 5% | B | A | 20 min | $57,235 |
| Bridge City | under 1% | C− | B+ | 24 min | $57,031 |
| Avondale | under 1% | C− | D | 24 min | $48,661 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elmwood’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 2024, 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 Elmwood: questions
What is the median household income in Elmwood?
$89,430 (±$12,819) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elmwood?
7.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elmwood?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elmwood work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (35%, 17 mi), Metairie (15%, 3 mi), Kenner (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Elmwood walkable?
Elmwood is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elmwood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elmwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elmwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.