Household incomes in Henderson trail those of 89% of U.S. towns
12.9% of residents are in poverty; Louisiana has 18.9%. The two grades for Henderson are C for jobs and income and D for walkability. About one in seven stay in Henderson for work; outside it, Lafayette is the main destination (22%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Henderson: the gist
The better-paid jobs are outside Henderson
51% of Henderson residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 23% of the jobs based in Henderson pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 85% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Henderson pay little
32% of the jobs based in Henderson pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 33% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 617 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Henderson’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Henderson is better than 28% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Henderson’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($48,750, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: Henderson’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, Henderson could be anywhere from C− to B−.
What the 502 jobs in Henderson are
502 jobs are based in Henderson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Henderson, 2013 → 2023: 498 → 502. 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 Henderson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Henderson
On a workday 526 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 411 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Henderson’s working residents head each day
Where Henderson clocks in
22% of workers
8% of workers
4% 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.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Henderson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Henderson workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 697 commuters (the 4% 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.
How many miles Henderson commutes
About 21% 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.
For most of Henderson, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Henderson is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 723 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). 3.2% of Henderson households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Henderson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Henderson places 3,736th of 6,161 on jobs and income 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 3,734 | Cleveland Township PA | 1,154 | $72K | 12.7% | 9.5% | 1% | C |
| 3,735 | South River NM | 1,810 | $69K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 1% | C |
| 3,736 | Henderson LA | 1,594 | $49K | 12.9% | 1.1% | 15% | C |
| 3,737 | Camp Point Township IL | 1,612 | $66K | 9.9% | 1.5% | 12% | C |
| 3,738 | Stetson ME | 1,243 | $76K | 10.4% | 3.8% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Henderson, 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 Henderson: questions
What is the median household income in Henderson?
$48,750 (±$11,821) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Henderson?
12.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Henderson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Henderson work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (22%, 16 mi), Breaux Bridge (8%, 6 mi), Broussard (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Henderson walkable?
Henderson is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Henderson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Henderson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Henderson
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.