St. Joseph - Waterproof is a very small town located in the state of Louisiana. With a population of 1,516 people and just one neighborhood, St. Joseph - Waterproof is the 195th largest community in Louisiana.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, St. Joseph - Waterproof is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, St. Joseph - Waterproof is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in St. Joseph - Waterproof who work in farm management occupations (12.85%), maintenance occupations (12.08%), and office and administrative support (10.03%).
As is often the case in a small town, St. Joseph - Waterproof doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The rate of college-level education in St. Joseph - Waterproof is quite a bit lower than the national average among all cities of 21.84%: just 12.50% of people here over 25 have a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree.
The per capita income in St. Joseph - Waterproof in 2022 was $18,020, which is low income relative to Louisiana and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $72,080 for a family of four. St. Joseph - Waterproof also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 52.08% of its population below the federal poverty line.
St. Joseph - Waterproof is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call St. Joseph - Waterproof home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of St. Joseph - Waterproof residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in St. Joseph - Waterproof include English, Scottish, Acadian/Cajun, German, and French.
The most common language spoken in St. Joseph - Waterproof is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Spanish.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in St. Joseph - Waterproof, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 12.9% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 99.3% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 15.9% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 97.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The neighborhood stands out for having an average per capita income lower than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in the United States. The neighborhood also has a greater percentage of children living in poverty (74.3%) than found in 99.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Children living in poverty is one of the challenges facing America, and the world, and in this neighborhood in particular, the problem can be considered acute.
In addition, one of the most interesting things about the neighborhood is that it has a greater concentration of residents who live alone than most all neighborhoods in America. With 51.4% of the households here made up of people living alone, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this is a larger proportion of people living alone than in 96.1% of the neighborhoods in America.
Despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 37.0%, which is higher than 97.2% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In addition, unpopulated, and rural, the neighborhood is one of the least crowded neighborhoods in all of America. If you like open space, no traffic, and lots of room, this neighborhood may be just what you are looking for. According to NeighborhoodScout's leading research, this neighborhood is less densely populated than 94.7% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in St. Joseph - Waterproof are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 74.3% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 30.3% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 21.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (19.0%), and 16.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.3% of households.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in St. Joseph - Waterproof, LA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (4.4%). There are also a number of people of Scottish ancestry (3.2%), and residents who report Asian roots (1.7%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (1.6%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (1.2%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (57.0% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (78.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (16.2%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.