Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Many’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Many grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 32.3% of residents are in poverty; Louisiana has 18.9%. About one in three stay in Many for work; outside it, Natchitoches is the main destination (7%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Many: the figures worth knowing
Many has far more jobs than workers
Many has 2,964 jobs, 3.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,600 people are in town, 86% more than the 2,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Fewer than half of Many workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Many’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 ↓
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; with 834 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Many earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Many is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Many’s grade.
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Many’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Many could be anywhere from D− to D.
The workday shuffle in and out of Many
On a workday 566 residents head out to work, 268 work right here, and 2,696 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Many on a workday afternoon, 86% more than live here.
3.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How far it is to work from Many
About 36% 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.
What the 2,964 jobs in Many are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Many, 2013 → 2023: 2,702 → 2,964. 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 Many’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Many’s workers come from
Where Many clocks in
7% of workers
5% 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.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Many
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Many workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 663 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.
Most of Many commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Many is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 698 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). 21.2% of Many households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Many’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300, and where Many sits
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 283 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,064 | Waurika OK | 1,867 | $46K | 28.1% | 7.4% | 26% | D− |
| 5,065 | Springville Township MI | 1,800 | $47K | 24.8% | 7.9% | 5% | D− |
| 5,066 | Many LA | 2,469 | $37K | 32.3% | 3.6% | 32% | D− |
| 5,067 | Homer LA | 2,520 | $23K | 45.3% | 5.2% | 19% | D− |
| 5,068 | Hertford NC | 2,011 | $40K | 24.7% | 3.2% | 14% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Many, 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 Many: questions
What is the median household income in Many?
$36,563 (±$11,888) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Many?
32.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Many?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Many work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Natchitoches (7%, 25 mi), Shreveport (5%, 65 mi), Alexandria (3%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Many walkable?
Many is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Many without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Many, from the people who make the trip.
More of Many
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.