Opelousas is a medium-sized city located in the state of Louisiana. With a population of 15,494 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Opelousas is the 28th largest community in Louisiana.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Opelousas is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Opelousas is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Opelousas who work in sales jobs (12.55%), healthcare suport services (11.37%), and office and administrative support (8.74%). Opelousas is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.The rate of college-level education in Opelousas is quite a bit lower than the national average among all cities of 21.84%: just 12.19% of people here over 25 have a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree. The per capita income in Opelousas in 2022 was $19,174, 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 $76,696 for a family of four. However, Opelousas contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Opelousas also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 38.96% of its population below the federal poverty line.Opelousas is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Opelousas home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Opelousas residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Opelousas include French Canadian, French, English, Italian, and German. The most common language spoken in Opelousas is English. Other important languages spoken here include French and Spanish.
