Scientific Data: How Much Do You Have To Make Per Hour To Survive In Shreveport?

That feeling of your paycheck vanishing the moment it hits your account isn't just a feeling...it's a brutal reality backed by hard numbers.

As the national economy shrinks due to AI replacements, rising costs of insurance, tariff taxes, exploding health care costs, trade wars, and the cost of education, things are hitting some states harder than others. The national economy can be propped up by state's who do better than others (think California or New York), individual state's often don't have bright spots they can lean on.

In 2025, the US national economy officially became 'haves' and 'have nots' as we crossed an incredible threshold. Over 50% of spending is done by only 10% of the economy. In other words, the US economy depends on rich people more than ever. In just 3 months of this year, the top 10% of wealthy Americans made $5 trillion. That's not their total wealth, over 90 days they ADDED ANOTHER $5 TRILLION to their existing wealth.

How Much Do You Need To Make Per Hour To Survive In Shreveport?

To survive in the Shreveport-Bossier area as a single adult with no kids, you need to be making $19.44 an hour. That isn’t for a life of luxury; it’s the bare-minimum hourly wage needed just to cover essentials. It makes the state's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour feel like a cruel joke.

READ MORE: Louisiana Expected to Lost 200,000 Jobs to AI

The moment you add a child to that equation, the numbers become absolutely staggering. A single parent trying to raise two children in our community needs to earn an almost impossible $42.19 per hour at their job, simply to keep their heads above water. This is happening in a city where the average hourly wage for all workers is only around $25.59 per hour. The math simply doesn't work for a huge portion of our neighbors.

This isn’t happening in an economic boom, or during a bust...it’s happening in an economy that seems permanently stuck in neutral. Local economic experts have described the situation as one where we aren’t really growing, but we aren’t shrinking either. For the families trying to survive on wages that don’t add up, being stuck doesn’t feel stable...it feels like slowly sinking.

The Shocking Gap Between Local Wages and Reality In Shreveport

So, how do the numbers really stack up? The median household income in Shreveport hangs around $48,465 a year. That’s the middle point. Meaning half of our neighbors are earning even less.

READ MORE: Louisiana Residents Enjoy Some of the US's Lowest Taxes

Let’s put that income up against the cost of living for a single parent with just one child. That parent needs to earn $34.11 per hour, which translates to over $70,000 a year, just to make ends meet. It’s a mathematical impossibility for a huge portion of our community. Even in a two-parent household where both adults work and have two kids, each parent needs to earn $23.63 per hour. That’s still a stretch for a family hovering around the median income level.

This isn't a failure of the people either, it's a failure of the system they’re trapped in. We have a workforce showing up every day, yet falling further behind, because the cost of essentials has shot up...while wages have stagnated.

Why Is Shreveport's Economy Stuck in Neutral?

Many are starting to point fingers at the national economy, and yes, inflation has ravaged our nation over the last 6 months. But Shreveport’s problems are deeper and more local.

The biggest economic challenge locally is an anchor tied to the state’s economy. Louisiana has been bleeding population for years. Younger people, the ones who typically drive innovation and start new businesses, are leaving for better opportunities. Or they're leaving for better quality of life.

When your talent pool is constantly draining, the economy can't grow...it can only struggle to tread water. This leaves us in a cycle of stagnation. We have jobs, but they don't pay enough to keep up with the rising cost of survival. It’s a quiet crisis unfolding in households across Caddo and Bossier parishes.