Minden, Louisiana

Area Profile

11,455 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Minden, in Webster Parish.

39out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 2% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity4,025th of 4,199 cities measured27
Schools3,846th of 4,162 cities measured16
Growth3,855th of 4,224 cities measured24
Housing affordability3,430th of 4,218 cities measured48
Climate2,262nd of 4,225 cities measured69
Physical resilience2,757th of 4,226 cities measured45
Access3,261st of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stability4,178th of 4,226 cities measured15
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Minden in the bottom 4%. The unemployment rate is published for Webster Parish, LA, which contains Minden, rather than for Minden alone.

In the public schools here, 51% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 9 units authorized over the past twelve months, 75% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
11,455
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$34,294
Bottom 6% nationally
Density
762/sq mi
15 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Louisiana
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SHV
34 mi · Shreveport Rgnl
Median home value
$130,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Webster Parish, LA, which contains Minden, is 5.1% — higher than in all but 22% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Webster Parish, LA, which contains Minden, fell 1.0% over the past year, to 12,740 employed residents.

Median household income of $34,294 is lower than in 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWebster Parish, LA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,0049th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWebster Parish, LA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$45,9343rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0082024 ACS 5-Year$34,294Bottom 6%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,5362024 ACS 5-Year$27,073Bottom 27%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year25.6%Bottom 14%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.2 minTop 32%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%Bottom 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year82.8%69th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWebster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 202612,740Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Webster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Bottom 26%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Webster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 2026−1.0%Bottom 46%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWebster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 202613,4208th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year64.5%Bottom 17%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%83rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Webster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 2026−0.2%Top 44%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWebster Parish, LA’s figureJuly 20265.1%Bottom 22%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202434k26k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $34,294 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Webster Parish, LA, which contains this city.

51% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 59% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.1 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
51.5%
Bottom 4% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
59.2%
Bottom 7% in Louisiana
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Minden High SchoolWebster Parish68914.150%62%
Webster Junior High SchoolWebster Parish46114.053%58%
J. A. Phillips Elementary SchoolWebster Parish42914.8——
J. L. Jones Elementary SchoolWebster Parish31818.758%56%
E. S. Richardson Elementary SchoolWebster Parish27517.245%58%

77.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Louisiana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Louisiana is up 25% over five years, and up 0.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $587 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.45% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $854, close to the $895 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $854 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $34,200 a year, about equal to the median household income here of $34,294.

The typical renter household here spends 43% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $895 a month.

A median home at $130,200 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $58,090, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
43.2%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$854
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$895
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$130,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Minden’s median household income of $34,294, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Louisiana’s figure2026 Q2+0.8%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Louisiana’s figure2026 Q2+25.3%9th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Louisiana’s figure2026 Q2+43.1%1st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.62024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 41%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year49.4%9th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2592024 ACS 5-Year5,70390th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$651Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,130Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$854Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$842024 ACS 5-Year$895Top 41%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,5882024 ACS 5-Year$130,20031st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1612024 ACS 5-Year$5879th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,3852024 ACS 5-Year$58,090Bottom 21%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year0.45%8th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year43.2%Bottom 8%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±222024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%88th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2322024 ACS 5-Year1,12595th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

24/ 100
Ranks 3,855 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 6% since 2020, to 11,195 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 35 units authorized in 2025, against 10 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 9 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Webster Parish, which contains Minden, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $51,004, above the $45,934 of households that moved out.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
9
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−75%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202412k11k
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. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
35%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,004
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,934
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Bossier Parish, LA 334 people · 22% of arrivals
  2. Caddo Parish, LA 200 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. Claiborne Parish, LA 160 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Bienville Parish, LA 100 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  5. Columbia County, AR 60 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bossier Parish, LA 458 people · 29% of departures
  2. Caddo Parish, LA 176 people · 11% of departures
  3. Claiborne Parish, LA 85 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. Bienville Parish, LA 76 people · 4.8% of departures
  5. Lincoln Parish, LA 39 people · 2.5% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Webster Parish, LA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420253510
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+218%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 57.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MINDEN, 1.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals57.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and ice storm, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormHigh
Strong windModerate
HailElevated
HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, tornado, inland flooding, drought, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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
761
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,529
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

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

Minden's police department reported 761 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,529.

Webster Parish has a modeled homicide rate of about 12.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 22.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 16.7 per 100,000 residents in Webster Parish.

Homicide
12.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
22.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
16.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Minden’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Minden (Webster Parish) rather than Minden itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Shreveport Rgnl at 34 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year63.5%Bottom 5%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle34 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year27.0%Bottom 7%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Shreveport RgnlSHV34 mi8,348 ft
East Texas RgnlGGG85 mi10,000 ft
Alexandria IntlAEX99 mi9,352 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
39
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Minden

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Minden with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Minden closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7105517,772$36,953$127,000—