Work & commute · New Orleans

Work & commute in New Orleans, LA

57% of New Orleans’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Metairie (9%), Elmwood (3%) and Kenner (3%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

57%

78,868 of 138,153 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 59,285 New Orleans residents head out of town to work, 78,868 work right here, and 97,603 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in New Orleans.

59,285live here, work elsewhere

78,868live and work here

97,603work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where New Orleans goes to work

New Orleans (in town)right here

57%78,868

Metairie15.1 mi away

9%12,822

Elmwood16.6 mi away

3%4,492

Kenner19.4 mi away

3%3,790

Jefferson14.7 mi away

3%3,716

Baton Rouge76.3 mi away

3%3,690

Gretna12.1 mi away

1%1,853

Marrero15.7 mi away

1%1,830

Harvey13.8 mi away

1%1,606

Chalmette7.8 mi away

1%1,197

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%24,289

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far New Orleans commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

74%

11%

10%

74%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

New Orleans is balanced between jobs and homes

1.28jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in New Orleans are

176,471 jobs are based in New Orleans. Here is what they are, next to the jobs New Orleans’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in New Orleans

176,471 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs New Orleans residents hold

138,153 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+10%

Jobs based in New Orleans, 2013 → 2023: 160,070 → 176,471. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.