Fort Polk, LA
Vernon County · Louisiana · United States
Home to 10,090 people across 11.159 square miles.
At a glance
71459 by the numbers
Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.
Location
Where 71459 is
| Coordinates | 31.077352, -93.22042 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/Chicago |
| County | Vernon County |
| State | Louisiana (LA) |
| Land area | 11.159 mi² |
| Coordinate source | Census ZCTA internal point |
Local time
America/Chicago
Current weather
Live from the National Weather Service
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Distance to major cities
Straight-line, computed from coordinates
| Houston, TX | 157.1 mi |
|---|---|
| Dallas, TX | 240.3 mi |
| San Antonio, TX | 334.8 mi |
| Atlanta, GA | 547.0 mi |
People
Who lives in 71459
10,090 residents in 3,247 households, averaging 3.11 people per household. The largest age group is under 18 at 30.1% of residents, and 75.9% of households are families.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 3,247 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 3.11 |
| Family households | 75.9% |
| Living alone | 22.3% |
| Median age | 23.4 years |
| Households with internet | 99.2% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 71459
The median household here earns $56,783 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 71459 ahead of 26% of American ZIP codes. 16.3% of residents live below the poverty line.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | $56,783 ±$7,332 |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $29,167 |
| Poverty rate | 16.3% |
| Unemployment rate | 6.4% |
| Labor force participation | 79.6% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 25.9% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 95.6% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 71459
median rent runs $1,140 a month. This is a renter-majority area — 99.5% of occupied homes are rented, and the typical building went up in 1996.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | — |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | $1,140/mo |
| Median year built | 1996 |
| Housing units | 3,652 |
| Vacancy rate | 11.1% |
Own vs. rent
Of 3,247 occupied units
| Owner households | 15 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 3,232 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 71459 commutes
69.6% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 13.7 minutes.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 13.7 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 71459
ZIP code 71459 is assigned to Fort Polk, LA, and falls within Vernon County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 10,090 people live inside it.
At 904 residents per square mile spread over 11.159 square miles, 71459 reads as a small-town area. It is a mid-sized postal code by population, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.
Household earnings run below the national median. At $56,783, 71459 sits in the lower half, ahead of 26% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.
Living here
What life in Fort Polk looks like
The building stock is dominated by small multi-family buildings of two to four units, which account for 56.9% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1996, making the housing here from the later twentieth century.
The population skews notably young, with a median age of 23.4 against 42 nationally. Households are relatively large at 3.11 people on average, with 75.9% classified as family households.
Getting to work takes 13.7 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 69.6% of workers, while 9.0% walk, 11.8% work from home. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Fort Polk, LA
Fort Polk is a smaller community, so options inside 71459 may be limited to a handful of independent inns, motels or bed-and-breakfast properties. Travellers often widen the search to the surrounding area, where the choice is greater and prices are usually competitive.
Median rent in 71459 is $1,140 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, Houston, TX is about 157.1 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.
Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.
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Practical uses
What ZIP code 71459 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 71459 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.
For anyone weighing a move, 71459 offers a compact profile of Fort Polk: 10,090 residents, a median household income of $56,783, 25.9% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 6.4%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.
One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 71459 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Fort Polk may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.
Nearby
ZIP codes near 71459
The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every Louisiana ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.
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Questions
Common questions about 71459
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Methodology
Where this data comes from
- Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
- Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 71459. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
- Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
- Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
- Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).