Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Blinutne assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Pearl River have lower incomes than those in 79% of U.S. towns
17.9% of residents are in poverty, against 18.9% across Louisiana. The two grades for Pearl River are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Only 3% stay in Pearl River for work; outside it, Slidell is the main destination (17%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pearl River, in brief
Jobs in Pearl River have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Pearl River went from 485 in 2013 to 1,261 in 2023, +160%. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
66% of the jobs in Pearl River are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Pearl River and Slidell trade workers both ways
Slidell is the top workplace for Pearl River residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Pearl River come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Pearl River workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Pearl River
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pearl River is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #70 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Pearl River’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pearl River could be anywhere from D to A.
What the 1,261 jobs in Pearl River are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pearl River, 2013 → 2023: 485 → 1,261. 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 Pearl River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Pearl River’s working residents head each day
Where Pearl River clocks in
17% of workers
16% of workers
9% 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.
Each way, about 33 minutes from Pearl River
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pearl River workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,048 commuters (the 12% 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.
Pearl River on a workday afternoon
On a workday 980 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 1,226 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 (1.24 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.
Where in the region Pearl River works
About 15% 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.
Getting around Pearl River: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pearl River is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns, #121 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Pearl River near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,185 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). 14.2% of Pearl River households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pearl River’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Pearl River comes 3,350th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 284 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,348 | Ingalls Park IL | 3,015 | $58K | 21.9% | 6.9% | 1% | C |
| 3,349 | Wilsonville AL | 2,015 | $72K | 16.4% | 17.0% | 1% | C |
| 3,350 | Pearl River LA | 2,715 | $57K | 17.9% | 4.8% | 3% | C |
| 3,351 | Catskill NY | 3,697 | $79K | 11.2% | 10.7% | 15% | C |
| 3,352 | Swanton VT | 2,380 | $67K | 20.1% | 3.0% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Pearl River, 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 Pearl River: questions
What is the median household income in Pearl River?
$56,719 (±$19,721) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pearl River?
17.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pearl River?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pearl River work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Slidell (17%, 6 mi), New Orleans (16%, 25 mi), Covington (9%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pearl River walkable?
Pearl River is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pearl River without a car?
0% 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 Pearl River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pearl River
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.