Work & commute · Lake Charles

Work & commute in Lake Charles, LA

54% of Lake Charles’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Sulphur (4%), Lafayette (2%) and Baton Rouge (2%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

54%

14,932 of 27,409 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,477 Lake Charles residents head out of town to work, 14,932 work right here, and 31,559 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake Charles.

12,477live here, work elsewhere

14,932live and work here

31,559work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake Charles goes to work

Lake Charles (in town)right here

54%14,932

Sulphur8.9 mi away

4%1,085

Lafayette70.6 mi away

2%630

Baton Rouge125.2 mi away

2%591

Shreveport160.4 mi away

1%264

Houston, TX133.4 mi away

1%261

Prien5 mi away

1%260

Carlyss9.6 mi away

1%260

New Orleans196 mi away

1%255

Moss Bluff7.6 mi away

1%246

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%8,625

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Lake Charles commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

70%

23%

70%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake Charles is a job hub

1.70jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake Charles are

46,491 jobs are based in Lake Charles. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Charles’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake Charles

46,491 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Lake Charles residents hold

27,409 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−3%

Jobs based in Lake Charles, 2013 → 2023: 48,016 → 46,491. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.