Centenary College · Public domainHousehold incomes in Jackson are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Jackson; the top destination outside it is Baton Rouge (21%, 28 miles). Poverty touches 32.0% of residents; Louisiana has 18.9%. The two grades for Jackson are D for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Jackson apart on work
Jackson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Jackson is Baton Rouge, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (261) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Jackson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Jackson went from 495 in 2013 to 710 in 2023, +43%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Jackson are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 38 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Jackson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Jackson is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #140 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Jackson’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (13.1%) is left out: Jackson’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, Jackson stays D.
Miles to work from Jackson
About 25% 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.
Jackson is a services town
710 jobs are based in Jackson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 495 → 710. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Jackson takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 597 commuters (the 10% 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.
Who leaves Jackson for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,179 residents head out to work, 38 work right here, and 672 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 people from Jackson work
Where Jackson clocks in
21% of workers
6% 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.
Most of Jackson commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns, #156 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 661 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). 16.6% of Jackson households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300, and where Jackson sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 308 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 791 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 970 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,115 | Centreville AL | 2,709 | $39K | 18.8% | 8.9% | 11% | D |
| 4,116 | Hazard KY | 4,794 | $51K | 31.5% | 7.1% | 45% | D |
| 4,117 | Jackson LA | 3,904 | $38K | 32.0% | 13.1% | 3% | D |
| 4,118 | Union City PA | 2,823 | $44K | 23.7% | 7.5% | 15% | D |
| 4,119 | Eastland TX | 3,737 | $52K | 24.9% | 6.3% | 25% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Jackson, 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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$37,844 (±$6,548) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
32.0%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jackson work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (21%, 28 mi), Zachary (6%, 12 mi), Clinton (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.