Photo: Robert Jones · CC BY-SA 4.0Livingston has 2.4 jobs for every working resident: 1,608 people commute in to work
Only 7% work in Livingston itself; outside it, Baton Rouge draws the most (20%, 23 miles). Employers in Livingston report 1,656 jobs, and 693 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Livingston C+; getting around on foot earns it D.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Livingston apart on work
Livingston is where the jobs are
Livingston has 1,656 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,000 people are in town, 48% more than the 2,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Livingston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Livingston fell from 4,526 in 2014 to 1,656 in 2024, −63%. 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 ↓
Livingston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Livingston is Baton Rouge, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (142) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; with 693 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Livingston’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Livingston is better than 38% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Livingston’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Livingston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Livingston could be anywhere from C− to A−.
In and out of Livingston on a workday
On a workday 645 residents head out to work and 48 work right here.
About 3,000 people are in Livingston on a workday afternoon, 48% more 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.
Goods jobs make up 36% of work in Livingston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Livingston, 2014 → 2024: 4,526 → 1,656. 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 Livingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Livingston works
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.
Commuting in to Livingston: where workers come from
Where Livingston clocks in
20% of workers
3% 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 daily trip from Livingston: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Livingston workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 685 commuters (the 4% 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.
Most of Livingston commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Livingston is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Livingston 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 711 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). 5.6% of Livingston households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Livingston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Livingston next to U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700: 2,888th of 5,509 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 266 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 416 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | Loma Rica CA | 2,343 | $98K | 6.3% | 7.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,887 | Petersburg IL | 2,125 | $56K | 15.7% | 1.4% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,888 | Livingston LA | 2,006 | $62K | 16.3% | 2.6% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,889 | Juniata Township MI | 1,546 | $69K | 8.2% | 2.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,890 | Jackson NY | 1,701 | $77K | 7.5% | 2.4% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Livingston, 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 Livingston: questions
What is the median household income in Livingston?
$61,750 (±$20,421) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Livingston?
16.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Livingston?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Livingston work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (20%, 23 mi), St. George (9%, 19 mi), Denham Springs (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Livingston walkable?
Livingston is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Livingston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Livingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Livingston
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.