Photo: David Wilson · CC BY 2.0New Iberia’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in New Iberia for work; outside it, Lafayette is the main destination (15%, 19 miles). Below the poverty line: 26.7% of residents (Louisiana 18.9%). For jobs and income New Iberia is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in New Iberia, in a few figures
New Iberia trades workers with the towns around it
New Iberia has about as many jobs (11,400) as working residents (10,130), but they are mostly different people: 7,340 residents leave for work each day while 8,610 people come in. Only 24% of the jobs in New Iberia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from New Iberia are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
New Iberia draws workers from far and wide
The 11,400 jobs in New Iberia are filled from a wide area. New Iberia’s own residents hold 24% and the ten next-biggest home towns 17%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of New Iberia workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of New Iberia’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% 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.
Inside New Iberia’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds New Iberia’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (10.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, New Iberia could be anywhere from D to C−.
New Iberia on a workday afternoon
On a workday 7,340 residents head out to work, 2,790 work right here, and 8,610 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 (1.13 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Louisiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of New Iberia workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,770 commuters (the 4% 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.
Where New Iberia’s working residents head each day
Where New Iberia clocks in
15% 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.
What work there is in New Iberia: 11,400 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in New Iberia, 2013 → 2023: 14,577 → 11,400. 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 New Iberia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region New Iberia works
About 20% 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.
Driving is how New Iberia gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,144 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). 18.7% of New Iberia households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of New Iberia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How New Iberia compares with U.S. towns of 19,000 to 36,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Prairieville LA | 35,238 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 315 | Central LA | 30,313 | $90K | 5.4% | 2.2% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 331 | Youngsville LA | 19,980 | $106K | 9.1% | 1.2% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,440 | Carbondale IL | 21,811 | $32K | 37.4% | 10.4% | 40% | D |
| 1,441 | Madisonville KY | 19,428 | $54K | 23.3% | 6.9% | 43% | D |
| 1,442 | New Iberia LA | 26,533 | $47K | 26.7% | 10.7% | 28% | D |
| 1,443 | Zanesville OH | 25,138 | $43K | 24.1% | 7.4% | 31% | D |
| 1,444 | Gadsden AL | 33,367 | $40K | 28.1% | 7.2% | 40% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,477 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 New Iberia, 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 New Iberia: questions
What is the median household income in New Iberia?
$47,087 (±$6,480) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in New Iberia?
26.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from New Iberia?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in New Iberia work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (15%, 19 mi), Broussard (5%, 12 mi), Baton Rouge (3%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is New Iberia walkable?
New Iberia is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around New Iberia without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from New Iberia, from the people who make the trip.
More of New Iberia
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.