With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Fifth Ward works elsewhere
Fifth Ward grades C for jobs and income and D− for walkability. There are 33 jobs in Fifth Ward, against 336 working residents. Measured by household income, Fifth Ward is behind 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Fifth Ward: the figures worth knowing
Fifth Ward workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 54 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 414 hours of commuting, 215 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fifth Ward is a place people come home to
There are 33 jobs based in Fifth Ward, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Fifth Ward and Marksville trade workers both ways
Marksville is the top workplace for Fifth Ward residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Fifth Ward come from (12% 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; with 336 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Fifth Ward: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Fifth Ward is better than 26% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Fifth Ward’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.0%) is left out: Fifth Ward’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, Fifth Ward could be anywhere from D to C+.
The trip to work from Fifth Ward: about 54 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 17.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fifth Ward workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 554 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.
The daily commute in and out of Fifth Ward
On a workday 333 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 30 people come in from elsewhere.
About 970 people are in Fifth Ward on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
20% of working residents work in Marksville
Where Fifth Ward clocks in
15% 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.
What Fifth Ward’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fifth Ward, 2013 → 2023: 36 → 33. 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 Fifth Ward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Fifth Ward
About 27% 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.
Fifth Ward is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fifth Ward is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Fifth Ward 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 574 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). 12.9% of Fifth Ward households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fifth Ward’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Fifth Ward is 2,963rd of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Sorrento LA | 1,622 | $118K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 557 | Lockport Heights LA | 1,481 | $126K | 7.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 803 | Mathews LA | 1,598 | $87K | 6.0% | 1.6% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,961 | Knox PA | 1,068 | $69K | 12.9% | 7.5% | 6% | C |
| 2,962 | Jackson SC | 1,639 | $40K | 11.1% | 3.2% | 2% | C |
| 2,963 | Fifth Ward LA | 1,277 | $51K | 5.7% | 5.0% | 1% | C |
| 2,964 | Craig AK | 1,062 | $68K | 7.9% | 4.6% | — | C |
| 2,965 | Wyoming IL | 1,287 | $60K | 11.8% | 2.4% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Fifth Ward, 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 Fifth Ward: questions
What is the median household income in Fifth Ward?
$51,279 (±$5,701) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fifth Ward?
5.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fifth Ward?
54 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fifth Ward work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marksville (20%, 6 mi), Alexandria (15%, 22 mi), Mansura (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fifth Ward walkable?
Fifth Ward is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fifth Ward without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fifth Ward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fifth Ward
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.