Photo: Billy Hathorn · Public domainHomer ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Jobs and income earn Homer D−; getting around on foot earns it C−. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. 45.3% of residents are in poverty; Louisiana has 18.9%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Homer apart
Homer’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Homer is Shreveport, 48 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (87) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Homer workers earn over $40,000 a year
35% of Homer’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 22% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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 974 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Homer: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Homer is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #157 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Homer’s grade up (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($23,160, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Homer’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Homer stays D−.
The commute from Homer, by distance
About 26% 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.
Jobs in Homer: what the 1,209 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Homer, 2013 → 2023: 1,224 → 1,209. 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 Homer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Homer for work, and who comes in
On a workday 785 residents head out to work, 189 work right here, and 1,020 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 (1.24 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.
9% of working residents work in Shreveport
Where Homer clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Homer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Homer workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 790 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.
Getting around Homer: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Homer is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #124 of 161 in Louisiana. 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 818 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). 19.6% of Homer households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Homer’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400, and where Homer sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 423 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,741 | Springville Township MI | 1,800 | $47K | 24.8% | 7.9% | 5% | D− |
| 4,742 | Many LA | 2,469 | $37K | 32.3% | 3.6% | 32% | D− |
| 4,743 | Homer LA | 2,520 | $23K | 45.3% | 5.2% | 19% | D− |
| 4,744 | Hertford NC | 2,011 | $40K | 24.7% | 3.2% | 14% | D− |
| 4,745 | Yanceyville NC | 1,850 | $28K | 38.3% | 1.8% | 10% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Homer, 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 Homer: questions
What is the median household income in Homer?
$23,160 (±$9,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Homer?
45.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Homer?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Homer work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shreveport (9%, 48 mi), Minden (8%, 17 mi), Arcadia (7%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Homer walkable?
Homer is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Homer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Homer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Homer
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.