Photo: Roman Eugeniusz · CC BY-SA 3.0At 9.0%, unemployment in Shreveport is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Shreveport is behind 89% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Shreveport are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. 23.5% of residents are in poverty, next to 18.9% for Louisiana as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Shreveport: the gist
What’s behind Shreveport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Shreveport is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #110 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Shreveport’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Shreveport stays C−.
Shreveport’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Shreveport workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 68,858 commuters (the 7% 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 daily commute in and out of Shreveport
On a workday 25,811 residents head out to work, 40,260 work right here, and 51,458 people come in from elsewhere.
About 202,000 people are in Shreveport on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Bossier City
Where Shreveport clocks in
12% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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.
Inside Shreveport’s 91,718 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Shreveport, 2014 → 2024: 96,658 → 91,718. 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 Shreveport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Shreveport’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
Shreveport is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Shreveport is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #76 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Shreveport 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 73,984 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). 11.0% of Shreveport households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Shreveport’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Shreveport compares with U.S. towns of 123,000 to 237,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 9% | A+ |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 25% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Metairie LA | 139,729 | $73K | 12.5% | 4.6% | 24% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Lafayette LA | 123,311 | $62K | 18.3% | 5.2% | 52% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | Baton Rouge LA | 222,795 | $50K | 25.7% | 9.2% | 48% | C− |
| 167 | Syracuse NY | 144,896 | $48K | 28.8% | 7.7% | 42% | C− |
| 168 | Dayton OH | 136,688 | $45K | 26.9% | 9.0% | 27% | C− |
| 169 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
| 170 | Jackson MS | 141,196 | $42K | 27.9% | 9.3% | 45% | C− |
| 171 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 52% | 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 Shreveport, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Bordering towns draw 12% of Shreveport’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Shreveport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shreveport | – | C− | B | 19 min | $48,699 |
| Lakeview | under 1% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Bossier City | 12% | C | B− | 18 min | $55,819 |
| Greenwood | under 1% | A− | D | 21 min | $64,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lakeview: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bossier City. Darker towns draw more of Shreveport’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 Shreveport: questions
What is the median household income in Shreveport?
$48,699 (±$1,652) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Shreveport?
23.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Shreveport?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Shreveport work?
61% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bossier City (12%, 9 mi), Baton Rouge (1%, 210 mi), Monroe (1%, 100 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Shreveport walkable?
Shreveport is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Shreveport without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Shreveport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Shreveport
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.