East Baton Rouge Parish · Louisiana
Baton Rouge, LA jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Baton Rouge, LA earn a median of $31,571 a year, 29% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 9.1% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 28.2% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $31,571#92 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 9.1%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 61.3%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 101,862Civilian employed, age 16+
What Baton Rouge does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance28.2%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food12.5%
- Retail trade12.4%
- Professional, scientific & management10.8%
- Construction6.6%
- Other services, except public administration5.7%
- Manufacturing5%
- Finance, insurance & real estate4.9%
- Public administration4.9%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities3.6%
- Information2.4%
- Wholesale trade1.8%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining1.2%
Related data for Baton Rouge
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.