Hebert House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Lake Arthur works elsewhere
Employers in Lake Arthur report 296 jobs for 890 working residents. Jobs and income earn Lake Arthur D; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Lake Arthur is behind 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lake Arthur
Lake Arthur workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 47 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 360 hours of commuting, 161 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lake Arthur than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lake Arthur fell from 395 in 2014 to 296 in 2024, −25%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 890 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Lake Arthur’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Arthur is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #118 of 161 in Louisiana. Unemployment holds Lake Arthur’s grade up (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Arthur could be anywhere from D− to B−.
About 47 minutes each way, longer than most of Louisiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Arthur workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,155 commuters (the 0% 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.
Jobs in Lake Arthur: what the 296 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Arthur, 2014 → 2024: 395 → 296. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Arthur’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lake Arthur on a workday afternoon
On a workday 817 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 223 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Lake Arthur on a workday afternoon, 23% 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 2024, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in Jennings
Where Lake Arthur clocks in
17% of workers
8% 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.
How far Lake Arthur’s workers travel
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Lake Arthur walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Arthur is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #47 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Lake Arthur 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 1,155 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). 7.5% of Lake Arthur households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Arthur’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lake Arthur ranks: 4,248th of 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 290 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 448 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,246 | New Ellenton SC | 2,338 | $58K | 17.3% | 9.1% | 3% | D |
| 4,247 | Eminence KY | 2,823 | $42K | 26.6% | 6.8% | 13% | D |
| 4,248 | Lake Arthur LA | 2,569 | $54K | 23.3% | 4.7% | 8% | D |
| 4,249 | Anderson MO | 2,073 | $54K | 17.7% | 5.3% | 9% | D |
| 4,250 | Rouses Point NY | 2,179 | $46K | 11.9% | 5.3% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Lake Arthur, 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 2024, 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 Lake Arthur: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Arthur?
$53,920 (±$16,539) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Arthur?
23.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Arthur?
47 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Arthur work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jennings (17%, 10 mi), Lake Charles (9%, 33 mi), Lafayette (8%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Arthur walkable?
Lake Arthur is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Arthur 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 Lake Arthur, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Arthur
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.