Photo: Polka Dots and Pastries · CC BY 2.0Ponchatoula’s household incomes are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 14.3%; Louisiana has 18.9%. Ponchatoula grades B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. A typical one-way commute lasts 33 minutes; Louisiana averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Ponchatoula: the gist
Ponchatoula trades workers with the towns around it
Ponchatoula has about as many jobs (3,242) as working residents (3,117), but they are mostly different people: 2,915 residents leave for work each day while 3,040 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Ponchatoula are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Ponchatoula 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ponchatoula
53% of Ponchatoula residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Ponchatoula pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Ponchatoula are held by workers 29 or younger, against 25% of Ponchatoula’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
Ponchatoula has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Ponchatoula went from 2,392 in 2013 to 3,242 in 2023, +36%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Ponchatoula’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ponchatoula is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #47 of 161 in Louisiana. Unemployment holds Ponchatoula’s grade up (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($51,161, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ponchatoula could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who commutes out of Ponchatoula, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,915 residents head out to work, 202 work right here, and 3,040 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 (1.04 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.
Ponchatoula’s commute takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ponchatoula workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,800 commuters (the 9% 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 3,242 jobs based in Ponchatoula
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ponchatoula, 2013 → 2023: 2,392 → 3,242. 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 Ponchatoula’s own residents hold wherever they work.
22% of working residents work in Hammond
Where Ponchatoula clocks in
22% of workers
6% 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.
Where in the region Ponchatoula works
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 Ponchatoula, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ponchatoula is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #105 of 161 in Louisiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Louisiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,092 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). 3.0% of Ponchatoula households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ponchatoula’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ponchatoula is 1,875th of 3,091 U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Addis LA | 7,679 | $108K | 3.2% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 962 | Harahan LA | 8,916 | $80K | 7.5% | 3.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | Elmwood LA | 6,077 | $89K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,873 | Page AZ | 7,147 | $89K | 10.6% | 3.3% | 55% | B− |
| 1,874 | Swan Creek Township OH | 8,398 | $69K | 7.1% | 6.0% | 6% | B− |
| 1,875 | Ponchatoula LA | 7,755 | $51K | 14.3% | 2.3% | 6% | B− |
| 1,876 | Lyndon VT | 5,628 | $69K | 11.0% | 1.0% | 25% | B− |
| 1,877 | Rensselaer NY | 9,421 | $70K | 17.9% | 4.6% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,091 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ponchatoula, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
22% of Ponchatoula works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ponchatoula workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponchatoula | – | B− | C+ | 33 min | $51,161 |
| Hammond | 22% | C− | A− | 21 min | $48,166 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hammond. Darker towns draw more of Ponchatoula’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Ponchatoula: questions
What is the median household income in Ponchatoula?
$51,161 (±$15,758) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ponchatoula?
14.3%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ponchatoula?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ponchatoula work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hammond (22%, 5 mi), Amite City (6%, 21 mi), Baton Rouge (5%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ponchatoula walkable?
Ponchatoula is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ponchatoula 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 Ponchatoula, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ponchatoula
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.