Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY 3.0Households in Vidalia earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Vidalia for work; outside it, Natchez is the main destination (22%, 4 miles). Below the poverty line: 18.7% of residents, next to 18.9% for Louisiana as a whole. For jobs and income Vidalia is better than 14% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Vidalia apart on work
A lot of Vidalia workers cross into Mississippi
33% of Vidalia workers work outside Louisiana, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Natchez (22%) is one of the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Vidalia trades workers with the towns around it
Vidalia has about as many jobs (1,564) as working residents (1,409), but they are mostly different people: 1,109 residents leave for work each day while 1,264 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Vidalia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Vidalia are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Vidalia residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Vidalia
Unemployment holds Vidalia’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($48,250, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vidalia could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Commuting out of Vidalia: the destinations
Where Vidalia clocks in
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.
Who leaves Vidalia for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,109 residents head out to work, 300 work right here, and 1,264 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 (1.11 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.
About 15 minutes each way for Vidalia’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vidalia workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,512 commuters (the 1% 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 distance from Vidalia to work
About 27% 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.
The kinds of work in Vidalia
1,564 jobs are based in Vidalia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vidalia, 2013 → 2023: 1,888 → 1,564. 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 Vidalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Vidalia: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 1,522 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). 5.1% of Vidalia households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vidalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,795th of 4,364: where Vidalia ranks among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 308 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 791 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 970 | Greenwood LA | 3,077 | $64K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,793 | Constantia NY | 4,802 | $70K | 18.1% | 8.1% | 6% | D |
| 3,794 | Three Points AZ | 5,254 | $57K | 15.3% | 4.8% | 5% | D |
| 3,795 | Vidalia LA | 3,925 | $48K | 18.7% | 5.3% | 21% | D |
| 3,796 | Cache OK | 3,239 | $66K | 16.5% | 9.5% | 11% | D |
| 3,797 | Saluda SC | 3,086 | $43K | 43.9% | 3.7% | 8% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Vidalia, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Vidalia and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Minorca (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Vidalia’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 Vidalia: questions
What is the median household income in Vidalia?
$48,250 (±$7,515) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vidalia?
18.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vidalia?
15 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vidalia work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Natchez (22%, 4 mi), Minorca (7%, 3 mi), Ferriday (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vidalia walkable?
Vidalia is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vidalia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vidalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vidalia
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.