Bossier City, Louisiana

Area Profile

62,901 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bossier City, in Bossier Parish.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 40% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2637th of 3,904 cities measured48
SchoolsTop 40% of 2,668 cities measured59
GrowthTop 26% of 2,973 cities measured64
Housing affordability2167th of 4,223 cities measured80
Climate2261st of 4,223 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 4,182 cities measured65
AccessTop 43% of 4,226 cities measured94
Economic stability3419th of 4,226 cities measured41
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.7% and median household income $55,819, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 380 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 44% on the prior year.

A major airport is 11 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
62,901
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$55,819
Bottom 32% nationally
Density
1,417/sq mi
44.4 sq mi of land
Median age
35.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bossier Parish
Louisiana
Metro area
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
Nearest major airport
SHV
11 mi · Shreveport Rgnl
Median home value
$202,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% is lower than 36% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.2% over the past year, to 26,792 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,420$55,819Bottom 32%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,456$33,062Bottom 48%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate20.8%Top 22%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.4 minBottom 15%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher24.7%Top 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment26,792Bottom 34%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.2%Top 45%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.2%Top 33%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force28,112Bottom 34%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation62.2%Top 44%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,580Bottom 4%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,820Bottom 5%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.2%Top 43%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.7%Top 36%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.03.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202456k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $55,819 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses6,390$80,080
Retail Salespersons4,670$28,990
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand4,250$34,970
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,150$22,460
Cashiers3,920$25,760
General and Operations Managers3,450$98,610

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 43% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
36.6%
Top 33% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
42.6%
Top 48% in Louisiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Airline High SchoolBossier Parish1,85518.9
Parkway High SchoolBossier Parish1,27919.1
Elm Grove Middle SchoolBossier Parish91615.832%47%
Apollo Elementary SchoolBossier Parish75614.342%54%
Cope Middle SchoolBossier Parish75216.047%62%
Bossier High SchoolBossier Parish65416.8
Rusheon Middle SchoolBossier Parish58314.98%17%
Legacy Elementary SchoolBossier Parish56015.672%70%
W.T. Lewis Elementary SchoolBossier Parish55817.457%59%
Greenacres Middle SchoolBossier Parish54313.932%42%
Plantation Park Elementary SchoolBossier Parish51813.323%22%
Stockwell Place Elementary SchoolBossier Parish49615.072%65%

61.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Louisiana’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,107 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
87.4

Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
23.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,107
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$202,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index87.4Bottom 2%of 3,6582023
Home price to income3.62Top 34%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate53.2%Bottom 12%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±55328,591Top 2%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$39$1,107Top 39%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,448$202,100Top 46%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.8%Top 22%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.3%Bottom 48%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
64/ 100
Top 26% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 63,218 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 6.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
380
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.0
Top 25% nationally
Year over year
+44%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202463k63k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20202022202320242025369238
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−18%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 95°F and January a low of 39°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 47, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SHREVEPORT DWTN AP, 5.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index64.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation48.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high95°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10032024 calendar year
Median air quality index47.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing37°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
47
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, ice storm and hail.

Ice stormHigh
LightningModerate
HailElevated
TornadoHigh
HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, strong wind, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
704
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,287
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Bossier City's police department reported 704 violent offences per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,287.

Bossier Parish records 5.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.1 per 100,000 residents in Bossier Parish.

Homicide
5.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
23.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
18.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Bossier City’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Bossier Parish as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Bossier City rather than Bossier City itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Shreveport RgnlSHV11 mi8,348 ft
East Texas RgnlGGG62 mi10,000 ft
Tyler Pounds RgnlTYR103 mi8,334 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
63
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Other cities in Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ShreveportCaddo Parish180,98254vs Bossier City

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Bossier City

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7111143,925$65,29266
7111233,587$61,76063
711102,626$62,64761