Pine Prairie ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Poverty touches 28.2% of residents, where Louisiana as a whole has 18.9%. Measured by household income, Pine Prairie is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. For jobs and income Pine Prairie is better than 3% of U.S. towns: D−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Pine Prairie
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Pine Prairie
Job access by car holds Pine Prairie’s grade up (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($33,352, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (13.3%) is left out: Pine Prairie’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Pine Prairie could be anywhere from D− to D.
Half of Pine Prairie commutes less than 40 miles
About 42% 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.
A workday in Pine Prairie: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 365 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 299 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 (0.82 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.
7% of working residents work in Baton Rouge
Where Pine Prairie clocks in
7% 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.
Most jobs in Pine Prairie are in services
311 jobs are based in Pine Prairie.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pine Prairie, 2013 → 2023: 183 → 311. 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 Pine Prairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Pine Prairie: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pine Prairie workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 195 commuters (the 0% 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 Pine Prairie compares with U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Bayou Gauche LA | 1,908 | $163K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 250 | Montz LA | 2,074 | $92K | 4.7% | 0.2% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 364 | Presquille LA | 2,062 | $112K | 1.1% | 14.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,494 | Worthington IN | 1,403 | $47K | 23.8% | 6.0% | 5% | D− |
| 5,495 | Gueydan LA | 1,122 | $28K | 39.5% | 22.8% | 14% | D− |
| 5,496 | Pine Prairie LA | 1,554 | $33K | 28.2% | 13.3% | 3% | D− |
| 5,497 | Lumberton MS | 1,656 | $38K | 35.7% | 8.8% | 8% | D− |
| 5,498 | Rolla ND | 1,156 | $49K | 23.1% | 2.8% | 35% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Pine Prairie, 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 Pine Prairie: questions
What is the median household income in Pine Prairie?
$33,352 (±$10,436) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pine Prairie?
28.2%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pine Prairie?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pine Prairie work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (7%, 80 mi), Ville Platte (6%, 11 mi), Lafayette (6%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Pine Prairie without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pine Prairie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pine Prairie
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.