Natchitoches is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Natchitoches area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Natchitoches maintain a good economy.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Natchitoches spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.52 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
Being a small city, Natchitoches does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
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.
