A job hub: Melville has 2.2 jobs per working resident, and 450 people come in to work
There are 475 jobs in Melville for 218 working residents. About one in ten stay in Melville for work; outside it, Opelousas is the main destination (13%, 23 miles). Working from home is the commute for 21% of workers, next to 8% for Louisiana as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Melville
Melville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Melville is Opelousas, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (28) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Melville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Melville
43% of Melville residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 19% of the jobs based in Melville pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. 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 218 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Short hops and long hauls from Melville
About 29% 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.
The daily trip from Melville: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Melville workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 147 commuters (the 21% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Melville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Melville, 2013 → 2023: 578 → 475. 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 Melville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Melville fills up on a workday
On a workday 193 residents head out to work and 25 work right here.
About 990 people are in Melville on a workday afternoon, 35% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting in to Melville: where workers come from
Where Melville clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
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 Melville: questions
What is the median household income in Melville?
$35,500 (±$28,749) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Melville?
24.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Melville?
37 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Melville work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Opelousas (13%, 23 mi), Lafayette (6%, 37 mi), Palmetto (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Melville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Melville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Melville
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.