Work & commute · Palmetto

Work & commute in Palmetto, LA

Most working residents leave Palmetto for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Opelousas (22%), Melville (15%) and Church Point (7%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1 of 27 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 26 Palmetto residents head out of town to work, 1 work right here, and 74 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Palmetto.

26live here, work elsewhere

1live and work here

74work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Palmetto goes to work

Opelousas16.8 mi away

22%6

Melville9.6 mi away

15%4

Church Point28.3 mi away

7%2

Palmetto (in town)right here

4%1

Leonville18.2 mi away

4%1

Sunset23.5 mi away

4%1

Ville Platte21.8 mi away

4%1

Lafayette36 mi away

4%1

Baton Rouge50.1 mi away

4%1

Lake Charles85.4 mi away

4%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%8

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

How far

How far Palmetto commutes

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

26%

41%

19%

15%

26%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Palmetto is a job hub

2.78jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Palmetto are

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

Jobs based in Palmetto

75 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)52%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)21%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month47%

Over $3,333 a month32%

Jobs Palmetto residents hold

27 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less0%

$1,251–$3,333 a month48%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−4%

Jobs based in Palmetto, 2013 → 2023: 78 → 75. 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.