Work & commute · Opelousas

Work & commute in Opelousas, LA

About one in 4 of Opelousas’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Lafayette (16%), Baton Rouge (5%) and Broussard (2%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

25%

1,377 of 5,430 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 4,053 Opelousas residents head out of town to work, 1,377 work right here, and 8,546 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Opelousas.

4,053live here, work elsewhere

1,377live and work here

8,546work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Opelousas goes to work

Opelousas (in town)right here

25%1,377

Lafayette22.2 mi away

16%857

Baton Rouge56.9 mi away

5%273

Broussard27.8 mi away

2%91

New Orleans132.2 mi away

2%87

Alexandria57.9 mi away

2%84

Lake Charles71 mi away

1%77

Carencro14.9 mi away

1%75

Ville Platte16.2 mi away

1%50

Crowley27.5 mi away

1%48

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%2,411

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

How far

How far Opelousas commutes

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

34%

24%

12%

30%

34%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Opelousas is a job hub

1.83jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Opelousas are

9,923 jobs are based in Opelousas. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Opelousas’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Opelousas

9,923 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Opelousas residents hold

5,430 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month36%

−5%

Jobs based in Opelousas, 2013 → 2023: 10,495 → 9,923. 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.