Photo: PhotogMetairie · CC BY-SA 3.0Where Metairie earns its living
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 18.8 in New Orleans. Metairie grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four work in Metairie; the top destination outside it is New Orleans (28%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Metairie
Most Metairie residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Metairie trades workers with the towns around it
Metairie has about as many jobs (63,948) as working residents (54,612), but they are mostly different people: 41,331 residents leave for work each day while 50,667 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Metairie are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Metairie works one town over
34% of working residents work in a town that borders Metairie: New Orleans (28%) and Kenner (6%). Next door ↓
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.
Metairie’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Metairie is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #27 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Metairie’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (12.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Metairie could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Metairie
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.
How a workday changes Metairie
On a workday 41,331 residents head out to work, 13,281 work right here, and 50,667 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 (1.17 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Metairie’s residents
Where Metairie clocks in
28% of workers
6% 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 work there is in Metairie: 63,948 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Metairie, 2014 → 2024: 68,189 → 63,948. 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 Metairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Metairie
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Metairie workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 61,131 commuters (the 10% 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.
Metairie is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Metairie is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #28 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Louisiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 68,275 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 3% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.3% of Metairie households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Metairie’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
137th of 260: where Metairie ranks among U.S. towns of 98,000 to 189,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 22% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 22% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Kent WA | 134,871 | $92K | 10.8% | 7.0% | 15% | B |
| 136 | Fairfield CA | 122,489 | $102K | 10.2% | 5.8% | 20% | B |
| 137 | Metairie LA | 139,729 | $73K | 12.5% | 4.6% | 24% | B |
| 138 | Ontario CA | 187,013 | $89K | 12.4% | 6.3% | 15% | B |
| 139 | Sterling Heights MI | 133,931 | $80K | 11.1% | 6.1% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Lafayette LA | 123,311 | $62K | 18.3% | 5.2% | 52% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 257 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 260 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 52% | 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 Metairie, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Work next door: 34% of Metairie’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Metairie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metairie | – | B | A− | 22 min | $73,042 |
| Kenner | 6% | C+ | A− | 25 min | $64,020 |
| New Orleans | 28% | C | A+ | 23 min | $56,631 |
| River Ridge | under 2% | A− | B− | 26 min | $84,336 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to New Orleans. Darker towns draw more of Metairie’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Metairie: questions
What is the median household income in Metairie?
$73,042 (±$3,784) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Metairie?
12.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Metairie?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Metairie work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (28%, 15 mi), Kenner (6%, 5 mi), Elmwood (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Metairie walkable?
Metairie is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Metairie without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Metairie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Metairie
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.