At 8.5%, unemployment in Waggaman is higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Waggaman are C for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 3% work in Waggaman; the top destination outside it is New Orleans (23%, 20 miles). Below the poverty line: 24.5% of residents, against 18.9% across Louisiana.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Waggaman and work: the main findings
The jobs in Waggaman pay better than its residents’ jobs
89% of the jobs based in Waggaman pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 51% of the jobs Waggaman residents hold. 93% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Waggaman. The jobs ↓
Waggaman makes and builds things
64% of the jobs based in Waggaman are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waggaman residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 13%. The jobs ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Waggaman’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 30 minutes, longer than the Louisiana average of 26. Time on the road ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Waggaman averages 30 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (20 to 26 minutes). Next door ↓
Waggaman and New Orleans trade workers both ways
New Orleans is the top workplace for Waggaman residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Waggaman come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Why Waggaman gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waggaman is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #72 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Waggaman’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waggaman could be anywhere from D to B.
Making and building: 64% of jobs based in Waggaman
1,451 jobs are based in Waggaman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waggaman, 2013 → 2023: 1,504 → 1,451. 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 Waggaman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes each way for Waggaman’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waggaman workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,628 commuters (the 6% 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.
Where the trip to work from Waggaman ends
Where Waggaman clocks in
23% of workers
11% of workers
10% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Waggaman
On a workday 3,723 residents head out to work, 99 work right here, and 1,352 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,000 people are in Waggaman on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.38 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
How many miles Waggaman commutes
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.
Most of Waggaman commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waggaman is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns, #132 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Waggaman 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 4,942 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.5% of Waggaman households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Waggaman’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Waggaman comes 1,973rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 337 | Belle Chasse LA | 10,934 | $115K | 6.1% | 2.5% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 704 | Mandeville LA | 12,918 | $94K | 7.1% | 2.9% | 16% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 820 | Moss Bluff LA | 12,482 | $92K | 8.9% | 1.1% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,971 | Fair Oaks GA | 9,014 | $63K | 23.6% | 8.4% | 2% | C |
| 1,972 | Parsons KS | 9,315 | $52K | 20.9% | 2.2% | 54% | C |
| 1,973 | Waggaman LA | 11,330 | $68K | 24.5% | 8.5% | 3% | C |
| 1,974 | North Valley NM | 10,455 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.5% | 6% | C |
| 1,975 | Pineville LA | 13,967 | $50K | 21.1% | 3.3% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Waggaman, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Next door to Waggaman
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waggaman workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waggaman | – | C | C− | 30 min | $68,374 |
| Avondale | under 3% | C− | D | 24 min | $48,661 |
| River Ridge | under 3% | A− | B− | 26 min | $84,336 |
| Harahan | under 3% | A− | A− | 20 min | $79,516 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waggaman’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 Waggaman: questions
What is the median household income in Waggaman?
$68,374 (±$24,942) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waggaman?
24.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waggaman?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waggaman work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Orleans (23%, 20 mi), Metairie (11%, 5 mi), Elmwood (10%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waggaman walkable?
Waggaman is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waggaman without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waggaman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waggaman
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.