Independence vs Ponchatoula

A side-by-side comparison of Independence and Ponchatoula: population, income, housing, and more.

Independence and Ponchatoula are places in Louisiana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ponchatoula has the higher population (7,839 vs 2,045 in Independence). Ponchatoula has the higher median household income ($47,821 vs $44,821 in Independence). Ponchatoula has the higher median home value ($194,300 vs $137,200 in Independence).

Population, income & housing

	Independence	Ponchatoula
Population	2,045	7,839
Median age	35.0 yrs	43.9 yrs
Median household income	$44,821	$47,821
Median home value	$137,200	$194,300
Median gross rent	$960	$1,079
Housing units	860	3,677
Homeownership rate	58.9%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.1%	22.4%
Unemployment rate	11.1%	1.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Independence	Ponchatoula
Population	1,971 → 2,045 (+3.8%)	7,195 → 7,839 (+9.0%)
Median household income	$35,733 → $44,821 (+25.4%)	$41,184 → $47,821 (+16.1%)
Median home value	$115,800 → $137,200 (+18.5%)	$152,500 → $194,300 (+27.4%)
Median gross rent	$709 → $960 (+35.4%)	$900 → $1,079 (+19.9%)

Independence

Population

1,9712,045

Median household income

$35,733$44,821

Median home value

$115,800$137,200

Median gross rent

$709$960

Ponchatoula

Population

7,1957,839

Median household income

$41,184$47,821

Median home value

$152,500$194,300

Median gross rent

$900$1,079

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Independence	Ponchatoula
Under 5	13.6%	5.3%
5 to 17	14.5%	15.8%
18 to 24	10.0%	4.1%
25 to 34	11.9%	10.4%
35 to 44	17.4%	16.4%
45 to 54	11.1%	6.9%
55 to 64	8.4%	22.2%
65 to 74	10.7%	13.0%
75 and over	2.5%	6.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Independence	Ponchatoula
White (non-Hispanic)	43.2%	64.5%
Black or African American	47.9%	27.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.3%	1.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	1.2%
Two or more races	4.9%	1.1%
Hispanic or Latino	3.1%	4.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Independence	Ponchatoula
No high school diploma	20.9%	12.5%
High school graduate	35.3%	38.5%
Some college or associate's	28.8%	26.7%
Bachelor's degree	13.4%	17.0%
Graduate or professional degree	1.7%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Independence	Ponchatoula
Drove alone	73.8%	82.4%
Carpooled	20.3%	2.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	4.4%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	1.5%	10.3%
Other means	0.0%	4.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Independence	Ponchatoula
1-unit, detached	84.0%	73.6%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	3.4%
2 to 4 units	10.1%	8.6%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	1.4%
20 or more units	0.3%	1.0%
Mobile home & other	5.2%	12.1%

Poverty & households

	Independence	Ponchatoula
Poverty rate	26.1%	18.6%
Average household size	2.84	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	28	32
Median year structure built	1974	1995