Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Mamou’s
Below the poverty line: 58.5% of residents, against 18.9% across Louisiana. Measured by household income, Mamou is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Mamou grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mamou
Fewer than half of Mamou workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Mamou’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Few Mamou workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 8% across Louisiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Jobs & income in Mamou: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mamou is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #149 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Mamou’s grade up (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mamou could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Inside Mamou’s 866 jobs
866 jobs are based in Mamou.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mamou, 2013 → 2023: 781 → 866. 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 Mamou’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Mamou
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mamou workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,031 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Mamou
On a workday 911 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 705 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
7% of working residents work in Lafayette
Where Mamou clocks in
7% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Mamou
About 28% 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.
For most of Mamou, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mamou is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #100 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Mamou 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 1,031 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). 16.2% of Mamou households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mamou’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Mamou sits among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 264 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 277 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 441 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,524 | Dulce NM | 3,218 | $40K | 22.0% | 5.9% | 74% | D− |
| 4,525 | Russell Springs KY | 2,828 | $39K | 28.3% | 12.4% | 25% | D− |
| 4,526 | Mamou LA | 2,830 | $25K | 58.5% | 7.7% | 15% | D− |
| 4,527 | Prague OK | 2,427 | $51K | 29.2% | 3.6% | 13% | D− |
| 4,528 | Richland Township MI | 2,778 | $51K | 21.1% | 15.1% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Mamou, 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 Mamou: questions
What is the median household income in Mamou?
$24,808 (±$8,612) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mamou?
58.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mamou?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mamou work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (7%, 38 mi), Ville Platte (6%, 9 mi), Baton Rouge (4%, 78 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mamou walkable?
Mamou is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mamou without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mamou, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mamou
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.