Mer Rouge has 2.4 jobs for every working resident: 356 people commute in to work
There are 367 jobs in Mer Rouge for 152 working residents. Only 7% stay in Mer Rouge for work; outside it, Bastrop is the main destination (14%, 7 miles). Working residents average 25 minutes each way, about the same as across Louisiana.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Mer Rouge: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 141 residents head out to work and 11 work right here.
About 670 people are in Mer Rouge 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 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Mer Rouge
Where Mer Rouge clocks in
14% 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.
41% of the jobs in Mer Rouge make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mer Rouge, 2013 → 2023: 376 → 367. 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 Mer Rouge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Mer Rouge’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mer Rouge workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 156 commuters (the 11% 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 far Mer Rouge’s workers travel
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.
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 Mer Rouge: questions
What is the median household income in Mer Rouge?
$56,583 (±$19,589) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mer Rouge?
24.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mer Rouge?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mer Rouge work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bastrop (14%, 7 mi), Monroe (14%, 24 mi), Rayville (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mer Rouge 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 Mer Rouge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mer Rouge
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.