Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 734, settled in 1883.
34% of residents live below the poverty line in Gibsland, against 20% in Louisiana’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. No town among the 161 in Louisiana we compare has a lower typical household income than Gibsland. Sylvan Retreat is on the National Register of Historic Places. Gibsland has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 558 in 1900, a peak of 1,380 in 1970, 773 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 4 maps from 1949 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gibsland, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Gibsland.
Gibsland: 3.1% of working residents work locally, where Louisiana’s towns sit at 9.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. Employers in Gibsland shed 30 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 82. The top destinations are Arcadia (15%), Minden (13%) and Shreveport (11%). Half commute less than 25 miles.
| Gibsland | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3.1% | 9.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Bienville Parish school district runs its public schools. Its one school is below. Gibsland’s only public school teaches 139 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gibsland-Coleman High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 139 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts
July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 35° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among adults in Gibsland, 41% feel lonely. Of the 162 Louisiana towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Gibsland. The town beats the Louisiana average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21.
| Gibsland | Louisiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 27% | 19% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 53% | 43% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 16% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 34% | 25% |
| What stands out | Gibsland | LA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.5% | 16.9% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.6% | 7.5% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 26.1% | 12.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Gibsland after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. On expected storm and flood damage, Gibsland sits below 52% of U.S. communities. Nearly a third of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by ice storms at 20%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Gibsland
About 7 of every 100 Gibsland residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Louisiana.
Where Gibsland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 notable people were born in Gibsland.
Town in Louisiana, United States
Gibsland is a town in Bienville Parish in northern Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 773. The town is best known for its connecting railroads, as the birthplace of the defunct historically black Coleman College, and for being the place where notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by Texas Rangers on May 23, 1934. Gibsland native John McConathy was a champion basketball player at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, who later was the superintendent for the Bossier Parish School Board, in which capacity he was the guiding force behind the establishment of the $57 million Bossier Parish Community Colleg…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gibsland has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
6 notable people were born here, including Bernard King and Ralph Hamner.
