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Place dossier plate
SheetLA-DONALDSONVILLE-LA · Donaldsonville, LA 6,792 pop · income 1st pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Donaldsonville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Donaldsonville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Capitanejo co… · lowest
24,125
Capitanejo co… · lowest
24,125 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #1
Newburg · near
24,135
Newburg · near
24,135 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #2
Lamboglia com… · near
24,141
Lamboglia com… · near
24,141 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #3
Donaldsonville · this city
24,160
Donaldsonville · this city
24,160 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #4
Oak Run · near
24,160
Oak Run · near
24,160 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #5
Blairsville · near
24,167
Blairsville · near
24,167 median HH income
22.5% of the leader · rank #6
Bowleys Quart… · highest
107,339
Bowleys Quart… · highest
107,339 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Donaldsonville on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 6,792.
Donaldsonville ranks in the 1st percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
1st
percentile, household income
35th
percentile, home value
16th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Donaldsonville, LA
Louisiana's Donaldsonville is a small town, with 6,792 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Donaldsonville households earn a median of $24,160 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 44.0%. Donaldsonville's housing stock carries a median value of $175,500, and the median resident age is 30.8 years. Educational attainment runs 11.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 51.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Donaldsonville's yearly average temperature at 68.2°F with 63.4 inches of precipitation per year and 0.1 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Louisiana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Louisiana at 88.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,007 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Louisiana run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 62.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Donaldsonville's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from climate and hazard context to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Donaldsonville, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Donaldsonville?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 68.2°F, with 63.4 inches of precipitation and 0.1 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Louisiana is 62.4 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
How far does income reach against housing in Donaldsonville?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 44.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Donaldsonville?
Within Louisiana, the closest population matches are Lacombe (6,883 residents, $70,361 income); Oakdale (6,614 residents, $45,038 income); St. Gabriel (6,569 residents, $60,093 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Paradise, CA (6,793 residents); Vandenberg, CA (6,793 residents); Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA (6,793 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the education layer cover for Donaldsonville?
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 11.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Donaldsonville growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +328 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+4.8%
2025 estimate
7,094
2020 estimate
6,766
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Donaldsonville?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
5.2%
Drive alone
72.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,422 workers age 16+.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 44.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.2 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Louisiana average
F
City profile score · Donaldsonville, LA
25/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A+
88.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$24,160
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
44.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Donaldsonville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 92/100 (A+) · 88.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 10/100 (F) · 11.4%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $24,160
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 44.0%
How does Donaldsonville compare to other US cities?
Here's how Donaldsonville stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income1% higher than other cities
Home value35% pricier than other cities
Median rent16% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Donaldsonville against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Louisiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Louisiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Donaldsonville near the bottom of Louisiana's cities
Among the 477 Louisiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Donaldsonville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Donaldsonville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#397 of 426
7th percentile in Louisiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 477
0th percentile in Louisiana
Median Home Value
#156 of 419
63rd percentile in Louisiana
Poverty Rate
#29 of 475
94th percentile in Louisiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#308 of 477
35th percentile in Louisiana
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Louisiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
1st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Donaldsonville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$175,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 65% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Donaldsonville's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,799 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,872 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.3×, Donaldsonville sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,799 of 15,516 and #10,872 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$24,160Donaldsonville, LA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Donaldsonville, LA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Donaldsonville, LA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)44.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,792
Median Income
$24,160
Median Home Value
$175,500
Median Age
30.8
Poverty Rate
44.0%
Labor force participation
51.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.4%
Climate
Avg Temperature
68.2°F
Annual Precipitation
63.4"
Annual Snowfall
0.1"
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Donaldsonville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,766 residents
2021
6,833 residents
2022
6,915 residents
2023
6,958 residents
2024
7,049 residents
2025
7,094 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.0%
Carpool
21.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
5.2%
Based on 2,422 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Louisiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $212
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Louisiana at $212 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Louisiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Donaldsonville. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Louisiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.2 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Donaldsonville is $1,007/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Louisiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 62.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Louisiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Donaldsonville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Donaldsonville compares to similar-size Louisiana cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.