Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Lake Providence’s
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 39.2% of residents (Louisiana 18.9%). The two grades for Lake Providence are D− for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lake Providence, in a few figures
Fewer than half of Lake Providence workers earn over $40,000 a year
32% of Lake Providence’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Lake Providence are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lake Providence than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lake Providence fell from 973 in 2014 to 541 in 2024, −44%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Lake Providence’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Providence is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #161 of 161 in Louisiana. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lake Providence’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Providence could be anywhere from D− to D.
What the 541 jobs in Lake Providence are
541 jobs are based in Lake Providence.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Providence, 2014 → 2024: 973 → 541. 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 Providence’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 15 minutes from Lake Providence
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Providence workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,105 commuters (the 5% 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 Lake Providence commutes
About 37% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Lake Providence
On a workday 887 residents head out to work, 232 work right here, and 309 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Lake Providence on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.48 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 2024, primary jobs.
7% of working residents work in Oak Grove
Where Lake Providence clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Lake Providence
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Providence is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #21 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Lake Providence 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 1,165 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). 13.1% of Lake Providence households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Providence’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200, and where Lake Providence sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 281 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 467 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 737 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,557 | Weldon CA | 2,493 | $35K | 28.9% | 4.2% | 8% | D− |
| 4,558 | Hayfork CA | 2,537 | $44K | 44.3% | 0.0% | 24% | D− |
| 4,559 | Lake Providence LA | 3,147 | $28K | 39.2% | 15.5% | 21% | D− |
| 4,560 | North Browning MT | 3,144 | $37K | 43.3% | 17.0% | 11% | D− |
| 4,561 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | D− |
| 4,562 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Providence, 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 Providence: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Providence?
$27,580 (±$7,816) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Providence?
39.2%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Providence?
15 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Providence work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oak Grove (7%, 13 mi), Monroe (4%, 56 mi), Tallulah (4%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Providence walkable?
Lake Providence is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Providence without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Providence, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Providence
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.