Graugnard Farms Plantation House · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in St. James
The trip to work takes 27 minutes on average (Louisiana 26, U.S. 26). Home is the office for 0% of workers, where Louisiana as a whole has 8%. Only 2% work in St. James itself; outside it, New Orleans draws the most (8%, 55 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where St. James stands out on work
St. James’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside St. James is New Orleans, 55 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (20) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The jobs in St. James pay better than its residents’ jobs
83% of the jobs based in St. James pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 43% of the jobs St. James residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside St. James. The jobs ↓
St. James makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in St. James are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs St. James residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. 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; with 248 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Short hops and long hauls from St. James
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.
Factories, building and farms: 54% of the jobs in St. James
402 jobs are based in St. James.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. James, 2013 → 2023: 196 → 402. 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 St. James’s own residents hold wherever they work.
St. James by day and by night
On a workday 242 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 396 people come in from elsewhere.
About 590 people are in St. James on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
1.6 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that send workers to St. James
Where St. James clocks in
8% 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.
Commuting from St. James: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. James workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 161 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.
The towns around St. James
The biggest share goes to Convent (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. James workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. James | – | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Welcome | under 3% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Convent | 4% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Romeville | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Welcome, Convent and Romeville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. James’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 St. James: questions
What is the poverty rate in St. James?
3.0%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. James?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. James work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (8%, 55 mi), Metairie (6%, 40 mi), Lutcher (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around St. James without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. James, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. James
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.