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Place dossier plate
SheetLA-FORT-POLK-SOUTH-LA · Fort Polk South, LA 8,056 pop · income 40th pct · 16 tracts
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 Fort Polk South
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fort Polk South on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Antigo · lowest
46,791
Antigo · lowest
46,791 median HH income
24.1% of the leader · rank #1
Portage · near
62,785
Portage · near
62,785 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #2
Grabill · near
62,788
Grabill · near
62,788 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #3
Butler · near
62,788
Butler · near
62,788 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #4
North Charles… · near
62,789
North Charles… · near
62,789 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #5
Fort Polk Sou… · this city
62,790
Fort Polk Sou… · this city
62,790 median HH income
32.4% of the leader · rank #6
South Kensing… · highest
193,793
South Kensing… · highest
193,793 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 Fort Polk South 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: 8,056.
Nationally, Fort Polk South sits in the 40th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
40th
percentile, household income
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: Fort Polk South, LA
Fort Polk South is a small town in Louisiana, home to 8,056 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Fort Polk South report a median income of $62,790 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 18.4%. The median resident age is 22.9 years. 28.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 23.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Louisiana run below the national norm: the state registers 88.2 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,007 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Louisiana run around $212, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Fort Polk South report an average commute of 9.6 minutes, with 64.0% driving alone and 14.6% working from home. 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 Fort Polk South'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 within-city variation to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fort Polk South, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Within-city variation
What can 16 Census tracts reveal inside Fort Polk South?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 16 Census tracts to this city.
Which cities make useful reference points for Fort Polk South?
Within Louisiana, the closest population matches are Prien (8,248 residents, $91,300 income); Ponchatoula (7,839 residents, $47,821 income); Old Jefferson (7,790 residents, $85,466 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are South Kensington, MD (8,057 residents); Oak Hill, WV (8,057 residents); Oberlin, OH (8,054 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 journey to work look like in Fort Polk South?
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 64.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 9.6 minutes.
Below median income · poverty 18.4% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.2 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Louisiana average
C-
City profile score · Fort Polk South, LA
50/100
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 C
28.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$62,790
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.4%
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).
Fort Polk South profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 92/100 (A+) · 88.2 index
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.7%
Household income: 39/100 (F) · $62,790
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.4%
How does Fort Polk South compare to other US cities?
Fort Polk South measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income40% higher 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 Fort Polk South 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 Fort Polk South near the bottom of Louisiana's cities
Among the 477 Louisiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fort Polk South ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fort Polk South only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#131 of 426
69th percentile in Louisiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 477
0th percentile in Louisiana
Poverty Rate
#193 of 475
59th percentile in Louisiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#69 of 477
85th 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
40th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$62,790Fort Polk South, LA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fort Polk South, 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 Fort Polk South, LA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)23.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,056
Median Income
$62,790
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
22.9
Poverty Rate
18.4%
Labor force participation
23.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.7%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
9.6 minutes
Drive Alone
64.0%
Carpool
8.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
11.7%
Work from Home
14.6%
Other
1.6%
Based on 4,264 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 Fort Polk South. 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 Fort Polk South 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 Fort Polk South sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fort Polk South 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, 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.