Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Hardly anyone in Welsh is out of work
Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers (Louisiana 8%). For jobs and income Welsh is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (C). About one in ten work in Welsh; the top destination outside it is Lake Charles (18%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Welsh, in brief
Welsh’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Welsh is Lake Charles, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (220) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Welsh workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Welsh workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 8% across Louisiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Welsh’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Welsh’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Welsh could be anywhere from C to A.
Miles to work from Welsh
About 23% 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.
Welsh’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Welsh workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,489 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 daily flow of workers through Welsh
On a workday 1,091 residents head out to work, 112 work right here, and 463 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Welsh on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.48 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.
Where the trip to work from Welsh ends
Where Welsh clocks in
12% 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.
Inside Welsh’s 575 jobs
575 jobs are based in Welsh.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Welsh, 2013 → 2023: 674 → 575. 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 Welsh’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Welsh: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,489 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). 6.3% of Welsh households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Welsh’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Welsh is 1,415th of 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 477 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 740 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,413 | Noble Township IN | 2,954 | $73K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,414 | Williamstown KY | 4,030 | $95K | 7.7% | 2.9% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,415 | Welsh LA | 3,286 | $78K | 10.7% | 0.0% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,416 | Lake Park NC | 3,609 | $66K | 8.0% | 3.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,417 | London Township MI | 3,006 | $81K | 4.5% | 5.2% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Welsh, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
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 Welsh: questions
What is the median household income in Welsh?
$78,185 (±$40,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Welsh?
10.7%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Welsh?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Welsh work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Charles (18%, 24 mi), Jennings (12%, 9 mi), Lafayette (6%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Welsh walkable?
Welsh is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Welsh without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Welsh, from the people who make the trip.
More of Welsh
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.