Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Harahan works elsewhere
2,035 jobs are based in Harahan; 3,893 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Harahan are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Only 5% work in Harahan itself; outside it, New Orleans draws the most (25%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Harahan in brief
Most Harahan residents work close to home
78% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Harahan are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Harahan’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harahan is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #12 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($79,516, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harahan could be anywhere from B− to A.
Harahan’s commute, mile by mile
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.
About 20 minutes each way for Harahan’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harahan workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,313 commuters (the 9% 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.
Harahan quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,705 residents head out to work, 188 work right here, and 1,847 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Harahan on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
Commuting out of Harahan: the destinations
Where Harahan clocks in
25% of workers
17% of workers
12% 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.
The kinds of work in Harahan
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harahan, 2013 → 2023: 2,164 → 2,035. 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 Harahan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Harahan, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harahan is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #15 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Harahan 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 4,753 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). 6.2% of Harahan households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Harahan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Harahan is 973rd of 2,907 U.S. towns of 6,200 to 12,000 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Addis LA | 7,679 | $108K | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 363 | Belle Chasse LA | 10,934 | $115K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 971 | Gulf Park Estates MS | 6,264 | $66K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| 972 | Hillside IL | 8,140 | $72K | 6.6% | 4.1% | 4% | A− |
| 973 | Harahan LA | 8,916 | $80K | 7.5% | 3.8% | 5% | A− |
| 974 | Dexter Township MI | 6,510 | $124K | 5.9% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| 975 | Union Township NJ | 6,649 | $138K | 4.0% | 7.9% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,237 | Red Chute LA | 6,526 | $86K | 7.5% | 4.1% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Harahan, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Harahan and its neighbors: 12% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harahan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harahan | – | A− | A− | 20 min | $79,516 |
| Elmwood | 12% | B+ | B+ | 18 min | $89,430 |
| River Ridge | under 2% | A− | B− | 26 min | $84,336 |
| Waggaman | under 2% | C | C− | 30 min | $68,374 |
| Avondale | under 2% | C− | D | 24 min | $48,661 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Elmwood. Darker towns draw more of Harahan’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 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 Harahan: questions
What is the median household income in Harahan?
$79,516 (±$4,978) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harahan?
7.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harahan?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harahan work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (25%, 18 mi), Metairie (17%, 4 mi), Elmwood (12%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harahan walkable?
Harahan is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harahan without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harahan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harahan
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.