Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Louisiana

Vivian, Louisiana

Vivian is a small town of about 2,900 people in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. It has lost about 5% of its people since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Dallas, is about 161 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,920
down 4.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$62,700
Caddo Parish prices up 5.1% since 2022
Prices, Shreveport area
84.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
North Caddo Medical Center
To Dallas
161 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 15.2% below the U.S. average in the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Vivian to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Vivian itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byNorth Caddo Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityDallas is about 161 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Vivian meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$62,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 5.1%Caddo Parish, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$726 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
84.8U.S. average = 100 (the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 5.1% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area, not Vivian alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,9202020: 3,059
Median age
31.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
27%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (22%); construction (13%)
Average commute
34 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: North Caddo Medical Center, Vivian, LA, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Willis Knighton Medical Center, Shreveport, LA, about 29 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Vivian, run by Caddo Parish.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Louisiana's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
35°F
July average high
94°F
Days 90°F or hotter
87 a year
Nights at or below freezing
35 a year
Rain and melted snow
51.5 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
252 feet

Weather stations: Mooringsport 1 N (12 miles away) and Vivian (2 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Shreveport, Dallas.

Caddo Parish is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site59 miles

Read about Vivian's history on Wikipedia.

Know Vivian?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Hosston, LA235 people, 6 miles
  • Rodessa, LA182 people, 7 miles
  • McLeod, TX (unincorporated)520 people, 7 miles
  • Oil City, LA874 people, 9 miles
  • Gilliam, LA116 people, 9 miles
  • Ida, LA209 people, 10 miles
  • Belcher, LA240 people, 12 miles
  • Mooringsport, LA705 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.