Work & commute · Sulphur

Work & commute in Sulphur, LA

Most working residents leave Sulphur for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Lake Charles (33%), Carlyss (3%) and Baton Rouge (2%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

1,452 of 7,787 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 6,335 Sulphur residents head out of town to work, 1,452 work right here, and 6,882 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sulphur.

6,335live here, work elsewhere

1,452live and work here

6,882work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sulphur goes to work

Lake Charles8.9 mi away

33%2,539

Sulphur (in town)right here

19%1,452

Carlyss3.7 mi away

3%246

Baton Rouge133.5 mi away

2%156

Lafayette79.3 mi away

2%127

Moss Bluff10.4 mi away

1%86

Houston, TX125.4 mi away

1%68

Shreveport156.7 mi away

1%67

Westlake5.9 mi away

1%59

New Orleans204.8 mi away

1%59

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%2,928

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

How far

How far Sulphur commutes

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

63%

12%

21%

63%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sulphur is balanced between jobs and homes

1.07jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sulphur are

8,334 jobs are based in Sulphur. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sulphur’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sulphur

8,334 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Sulphur residents hold

7,787 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+19%

Jobs based in Sulphur, 2013 → 2023: 7,021 → 8,334. 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.