Natchitoches is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Natchitoches to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
One of the benefits of Natchitoches is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.52 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
As is often the case in a small city, Natchitoches doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
In terms of college education, Natchitoches is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 27.20% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Natchitoches in 2022 was $21,720, which is lower middle income relative to Louisiana, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $86,880 for a family of four. However, Natchitoches contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Natchitoches also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 38.02% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Natchitoches is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Natchitoches home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Natchitoches residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Natchitoches include French, German, Irish, English, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Natchitoches is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
