Photo: Public domain · Public domainUnemployment in Port Allen (6.2%) is higher than in 76% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Port Allen is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (B+). Commuters spend 19 minutes getting to work on average; the Louisiana average is 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Port Allen, in brief
Port Allen is where the jobs are
Port Allen has 3,062 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Port Allen and Baton Rouge trade workers both ways
Baton Rouge is the top workplace for Port Allen residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Port Allen come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Port Allen are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Port Allen makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Port Allen are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Port Allen residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Port Allen’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Port Allen’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Port Allen could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who works in Port Allen, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,842 residents head out to work, 136 work right here, and 2,926 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Port Allen on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Port Allen’s workforce comes from
Where Port Allen clocks in
31% 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.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Louisiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Port Allen workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,167 commuters (the 8% 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.
Port Allen makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
3,062 jobs are based in Port Allen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Port Allen, 2014 → 2024: 3,465 → 3,062. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Port Allen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Port Allen, by distance
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Port Allen is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,366 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). 9.3% of Port Allen households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Port Allen’s commuters take a bus or train.
Port Allen places 2,680th of 3,758 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 312 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,063 | Elmwood LA | 6,077 | $89K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,331 | Westlake LA | 4,763 | $68K | 12.1% | 0.0% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,678 | Timber Pines FL | 5,007 | $59K | 11.5% | 7.4% | 1% | C |
| 2,679 | Forsyth GA | 4,952 | $73K | 21.5% | 3.7% | 10% | C |
| 2,680 | Port Allen LA | 5,015 | $59K | 20.5% | 6.2% | 7% | C |
| 2,681 | Holdrege NE | 5,555 | $56K | 16.6% | 1.8% | 52% | C |
| 2,682 | Oakhurst CA | 6,091 | $82K | 5.5% | 8.6% | 29% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Port Allen, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
31% of Port Allen works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Port Allen workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Allen | – | C | B+ | 19 min | $59,474 |
| Baton Rouge | 31% | C− | A− | 21 min | $49,994 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Baton Rouge. Darker towns draw more of Port Allen’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 2024, 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 Port Allen: questions
What is the median household income in Port Allen?
$59,474 (±$6,656) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Port Allen?
20.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Port Allen?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Port Allen work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (31%, 5 mi), St. George (8%, 12 mi), New Orleans (3%, 81 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Port Allen walkable?
Port Allen is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Port Allen without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Port Allen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Port Allen
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.