Golden Meadow High School · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Golden Meadow works elsewhere
Jobs and income earn Golden Meadow C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Employers in Golden Meadow report 211 jobs for 657 working residents. 2% of workers work from home, next to 8% for Louisiana as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Golden Meadow, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Golden Meadow than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Golden Meadow fell from 586 in 2014 to 211 in 2024, −64%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Golden Meadow and Galliano trade workers both ways
Galliano is the top workplace for Golden Meadow residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Golden Meadow come from (10% of its jobs). 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; with 657 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Golden Meadow’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Golden Meadow is better than 34% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Golden Meadow’s grade up (9.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Golden Meadow’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, Golden Meadow could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The kinds of work in Golden Meadow
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Golden Meadow, 2014 → 2024: 586 → 211. 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 Golden Meadow’s own residents hold wherever they work.
18% of working residents work in Galliano
Where Golden Meadow clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
Who commutes out of Golden Meadow, and who commutes in
On a workday 624 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 178 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Golden Meadow on a workday afternoon, 27% 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 2024, primary jobs.
How long Golden Meadow spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Golden Meadow workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 792 commuters (the 2% 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.
Where in the region Golden Meadow works
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Golden Meadow walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Golden Meadow is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 808 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). 12.7% of Golden Meadow households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Golden Meadow’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,336th of 6,161: where Golden Meadow ranks among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 265 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Presquille LA | 2,062 | $112K | 1.1% | 14.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,334 | Greene Township PA | 1,812 | $74K | 10.2% | 0.7% | 15% | C |
| 3,335 | Watts Mills SC | 1,942 | $51K | 8.7% | 10.9% | 1% | C |
| 3,336 | Golden Meadow LA | 1,636 | $72K | 9.9% | 1.2% | 5% | C |
| 3,337 | Bartlett TX | 1,678 | $67K | 14.3% | 4.2% | 2% | C |
| 3,338 | Hudson Township MI | 1,505 | $54K | 5.8% | 4.2% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Golden Meadow, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
18% of Golden Meadow works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Golden Meadow workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Meadow | – | C | B+ | 22 min | $71,875 |
| Galliano | 18% | C | C− | 30 min | $49,918 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Galliano. Darker towns draw more of Golden Meadow’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 Golden Meadow: questions
What is the median household income in Golden Meadow?
$71,875 (±$5,685) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Golden Meadow?
9.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Golden Meadow?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Golden Meadow work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Galliano (18%, 5 mi), Thibodaux (9%, 43 mi), New Orleans (5%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Golden Meadow walkable?
Golden Meadow is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Golden Meadow without a car?
1% 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 Golden Meadow, from the people who make the trip.
More of Golden Meadow
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.