Household incomes in Olla are among the lowest of any U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. 26.8% of residents live below the poverty line (Louisiana 18.9%). The two grades for Olla are D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Olla: the figures worth knowing
Fewer jobs are based in Olla than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Olla fell from 441 in 2013 to 244 in 2023, −45%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Olla 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 ↓
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 375 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Olla
On income, poverty and job access, Olla is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Olla’s grade.
Unemployment (11.7%) is left out: Olla’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Olla stays D−.
Goods jobs make up 61% of work in Olla
244 jobs are based in Olla.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Olla, 2013 → 2023: 441 → 244. 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 Olla’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Olla workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 275 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.
How many people are in Olla by day
On a workday 353 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 222 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Olla on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in Jena
Where Olla clocks in
13% of workers
5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Olla
About 25% 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.
In Olla, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Olla is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 286 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). 8.1% of Olla households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Olla’s commuters take a bus or train.
Olla and other U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 314 | Paulina LA | 1,785 | $89K | 2.1% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 490 | Sorrento LA | 1,622 | $118K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 513 | Cade LA | 1,710 | $73K | 6.0% | 1.5% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,288 | Miami AZ | 1,514 | $41K | 26.4% | 17.3% | 5% | D− |
| 5,289 | Maricopa CA | 1,018 | $39K | 22.4% | 13.0% | 9% | D− |
| 5,290 | Olla LA | 1,325 | $30K | 26.8% | 11.7% | 6% | D− |
| 5,291 | Vardaman MS | 1,060 | $38K | 44.2% | 2.8% | 5% | D− |
| 5,292 | Robert Lee TX | 1,061 | $34K | 27.0% | 3.1% | 26% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Olla, 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 Olla: questions
What is the median household income in Olla?
$29,688 (±$14,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Olla?
26.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Olla?
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 Olla work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jena (13%, 16 mi), Urania (6%, 4 mi), Alexandria (5%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Olla walkable?
Olla is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Olla without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Olla, from the people who make the trip.
More of Olla
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.