Photo: Wikilester1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Natchitoches are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Natchitoches are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 35.9% of residents; Louisiana has 18.9%. About half work in Natchitoches itself; outside it, Shreveport draws the most (6%, 65 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Natchitoches, in brief
Commutes from Natchitoches are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Natchitoches workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Natchitoches’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Natchitoches draws workers from far and wide
The 9,205 jobs in Natchitoches are filled from a wide area. Natchitoches’ own residents hold 32% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Natchitoches’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Natchitoches is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #142 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Natchitoches’ grade up (ahead of 34% 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, Natchitoches could be anywhere from D− to D.
The daily trip from Natchitoches: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Natchitoches workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,898 commuters (the 3% 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 9,205 jobs based in Natchitoches
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Natchitoches, 2013 → 2023: 8,869 → 9,205. 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 Natchitoches’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Natchitoches work
Where Natchitoches clocks in
6% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Natchitoches on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,482 residents head out to work, 2,935 work right here, and 6,270 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Natchitoches on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
How far Natchitoches goes to work
About 30% 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.
Most of Natchitoches commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Natchitoches is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #37 of 161 in Louisiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,103 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). 14.3% of Natchitoches households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Natchitoches’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, and where Natchitoches sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 442 | Youngsville LA | 19,980 | $106K | 9.1% | 1.2% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 609 | Mandeville LA | 12,918 | $94K | 7.1% | 2.9% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 711 | Moss Bluff LA | 12,482 | $92K | 8.9% | 1.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,979 | Sterling CO | 13,054 | $43K | 19.0% | 7.8% | 40% | D |
| 1,980 | Aberdeen WA | 17,088 | $52K | 23.8% | 10.0% | 26% | D |
| 1,981 | Natchitoches LA | 17,146 | $37K | 35.9% | 7.1% | 46% | D |
| 1,982 | Ozark AL | 14,269 | $49K | 28.1% | 9.1% | 25% | D |
| 1,983 | Blytheville AR | 12,227 | $48K | 24.2% | 9.2% | 37% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Natchitoches, 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 Natchitoches: questions
What is the median household income in Natchitoches?
$37,133 (±$4,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Natchitoches?
35.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Natchitoches?
16 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Natchitoches work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Shreveport (6%, 65 mi), Alexandria (3%, 48 mi), Bossier City (2%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Natchitoches walkable?
Natchitoches is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Natchitoches without a car?
<1% 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 Natchitoches, from the people who make the trip.
More of Natchitoches
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.