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Place dossier plate
SheetLA-OAKDALE-LA · Oakdale, LA 6,614 pop · income 13th pct · 7 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 Oakdale
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Oakdale on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Donaldsonville · lowest
24,160
Donaldsonville · lowest
24,160 median HH income
16.2% of the leader · rank #1
Oakdale · this city
45,038
Oakdale · this city
45,038 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #2
Eagle Bend · near
45,038
Eagle Bend · near
45,038 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #3
Dunnigan · near
45,050
Dunnigan · near
45,050 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #4
Seligman · near
45,052
Seligman · near
45,052 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #5
Montrose · near
45,063
Montrose · near
45,063 median HH income
30.3% of the leader · rank #6
Jamul · highest
148,740
Jamul · highest
148,740 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 Oakdale 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: 6,614.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Oakdale lands in the 13th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
13th
percentile, household income
12th
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: Oakdale, LA
Louisiana's Oakdale is a small town, with 6,614 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Oakdale households earn a median of $45,038 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 18.8%. Typical homes in Oakdale are valued around $106,800, and the median resident age is 42.7 years. 9.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 31.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Oakdale (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Living costs in Louisiana run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Louisiana scores 88.2 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,007 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Louisiana's average monthly utility costs around $212 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 62.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Oakdale'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 schools and households to population change to housing and income to work and mobility to within-city variation to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Oakdale, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Oakdale?
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.
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 9.8% 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -143 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Oakdale?
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.
Within Louisiana, the closest population matches are St. Gabriel (6,569 residents, $60,093 income); Galliano (6,563 residents, $53,146 income); Franklin (6,557 residents, $46,278 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Buena Vista, VA (6,612 residents); Jamul, CA (6,617 residents); Selma, NC (6,611 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Oakdale?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$106,800
Household income
$45,038
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Oakdale?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Drive alone
82.1%
Work from home
10.4%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,838 workers age 16+.
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.
Poverty rate F
18.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$45,038
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
9.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Oakdale profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 92/100 (A+) · 88.2 index
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.8%
Household income: 14/100 (F) · $45,038
Bachelor's+ share: 6/100 (F) · 9.8%
How does Oakdale compare to other US cities?
Oakdale measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income13% higher than other cities
Home value12% 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 Oakdale 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 Oakdale near the bottom of Louisiana's cities
Among the 477 Louisiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Oakdale ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Oakdale only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#265 of 426
38th percentile in Louisiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 477
0th percentile in Louisiana
Median Home Value
#287 of 419
32nd percentile in Louisiana
Poverty Rate
#186 of 475
61st percentile in Louisiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#339 of 477
29th 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
13th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Oakdale's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$106,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 88% 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
Oakdale's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,337 of 15,516
More affordable than 78% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,051 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Oakdale sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,337 of 15,516 and #3,051 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$45,038Oakdale, LA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Oakdale, 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 Oakdale, LA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)9.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)31.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,614
Median Income
$45,038
Median Home Value
$106,800
Median Age
42.7
Poverty Rate
18.8%
Labor force participation
31.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
9.8%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Oakdale's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,669 residents
2021
6,622 residents
2022
6,564 residents
2023
6,558 residents
2024
6,579 residents
2025
6,526 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$0.3M
2020
1
1
0
$0.0M
2021
1
1
0
$0.0M
2022
1
1
0
$0.0M
2023
1
1
0
$0.0M
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.1%
Carpool
6.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
10.4%
Other
0.6%
Based on 1,838 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 Oakdale. 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 Oakdale 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 Oakdale sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Oakdale 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, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.