Natchitoches is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Natchitoches to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 16.52 minutes getting to work every day.
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.
