Photo: BSwank · CC BY 3.0Unemployment in Lacombe (10.2%) is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 34 minutes on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Lacombe is better than 26% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (D). Only 4% work in Lacombe; the top destination outside it is New Orleans (13%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lacombe, in brief
Lacombe workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Lacombe is a place people come home to
There are 819 jobs based in Lacombe, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lacombe has about 3,800 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
How Lacombe earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Lacombe’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lacombe could be anywhere from D to C+.
About 34 minutes to work from Lacombe
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lacombe workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,666 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.
How a workday changes Lacombe
On a workday 3,233 residents head out to work, 124 work right here, and 695 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Lacombe on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.24 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.
Out of Lacombe to work: where people go
Where Lacombe clocks in
13% of workers
10% of workers
10% 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 Lacombe
819 jobs are based in Lacombe.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lacombe, 2013 → 2023: 613 → 819. 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 Lacombe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Lacombe to work
About 15% 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.
In Lacombe, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,942 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). 8.2% of Lacombe households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lacombe’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lacombe is 2,626th of 3,349 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Addis LA | 7,679 | $108K | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 999 | Elmwood LA | 6,077 | $89K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,257 | Westlake LA | 4,763 | $68K | 12.1% | 0.0% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,624 | Deerpark NY | 7,433 | $73K | 10.2% | 8.4% | 13% | C |
| 2,625 | Kathleen FL | 7,201 | $57K | 31.8% | 4.5% | 1% | C |
| 2,626 | Lacombe LA | 6,310 | $73K | 18.0% | 10.2% | 4% | C |
| 2,627 | Charles City IA | 7,013 | $59K | 13.3% | 4.6% | 46% | C |
| 2,628 | Brevard NC | 8,098 | $54K | 15.1% | 3.6% | 33% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,349 | 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 Lacombe, 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 Lacombe: questions
What is the median household income in Lacombe?
$72,813 (±$14,592) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lacombe?
18.0%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lacombe?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lacombe work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (13%, 18 mi), Slidell (10%, 9 mi), Covington (10%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lacombe walkable?
Lacombe is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lacombe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lacombe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lacombe
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.