Ruston is a medium-sized city located in the state of Louisiana. With a population of 22,295 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Ruston is the 19th largest community in Louisiana.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 12.36% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Ruston is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Ruston culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Ruston really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Ruston every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Ruston. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Ruston benefits directly from this.

Ruston, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

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 15.48 minutes getting to work every day.

Being a small city, Ruston does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The education level of Ruston ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Ruston, 41.98% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Ruston in 2022 was $21,292, 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 $85,168 for a family of four. However, Ruston contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Ruston also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 36.17% of its population below the federal poverty line.

Ruston is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ruston home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ruston residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Ruston include English, Irish, German, French, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Ruston is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Other Asian languages.