Alexandria, LA

Metro Area Profile

149,622 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Alexandria, LA metropolitan area.

60out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 34% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity328th of 379 published metros36
Growth607th of 821 published metros35
Housing affordability434th of 822 published metros94
ClimateTop 31% of 822 published metros72
Physical resilienceTop 23% of 822 published metros74
AccessTop 7% of 822 published metros98
Economic stability735th of 822 published metros21
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 4.6% and the Opportunity signal places Alexandria in the bottom 13%.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Alexandria in the top 23% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 0 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
149,622
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,353
Bottom 17% nationally
Density
76/sq mi
1967.9 sq mi of land
Median age
38.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Alexandria, LA
Nearest major airport
AEX
0 mi · Alexandria Intl
Median home value
$175,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% is lower than 33% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 62,423 employed residents.

Median household income of $56,353 is below 83% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,086$56,353Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$931$30,953Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.5%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.3 minBottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher21.9%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment62,423Bottom 22%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.3%Bottom 42%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 47%June 2026
Labor force65,407Bottom 22%June 2026
Labor force participation56.8%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,630Bottom 5%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$40,600Bottom 6%2025 OEWS
Metro employment60,000Bottom 26%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.2%Top 39%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.6%Top 33%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.02.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.6% 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.
Largest occupations — Alexandria, LA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,960$22,590
Registered Nurses2,170$81,680
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,050$36,190
Retail Salespersons1,650$28,660
Cashiers1,520$26,250
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,490$21,760

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $946 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$946
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$175,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.11Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate66.8%Bottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±10567,684Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$32$946Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,147$175,200Bottom 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.1%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.7%Top 21%2024 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
35/ 100
Ranks 607 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 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 fallen 3% since 2020, reaching 148,008 in 2024.

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

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
278
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 36% nationally
Year over year
+5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024152k148k
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.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 39°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 54.6 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ALEXANDRIA INTL AP, 0.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation54.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing34°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

74 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, hurricane and tornado.

HurricaneElevated
DroughtElevated
Cold waveModerate
TornadoModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, ice storm, inland flooding, strong wind, wildfire, earthquake, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 0 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Alexandria IntlAEX0 mi9,352 ft
Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet FldLFT84 mi8,000 ft
Chennault IntlCWF85 mi10,702 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
60
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
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)
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)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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)

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.