Work & commute · Westlake

Work & commute in Westlake, LA

Most working residents leave Westlake for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Lake Charles (41%), Sulphur (8%) and Lafayette (2%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

72 of 1,719 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 1,647 Westlake residents head out of town to work, 72 work right here, and 955 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Westlake.

1,647live here, work elsewhere

72live and work here

955work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Westlake goes to work

Lake Charles5.3 mi away

41%708

Sulphur5.9 mi away

8%134

Westlake (in town)right here

4%72

Lafayette73.8 mi away

2%38

Carlyss8.6 mi away

2%31

Baton Rouge127.8 mi away

2%29

Moss Bluff4.7 mi away

1%25

Shreveport155.6 mi away

1%15

Houston, TX131.3 mi away

1%14

Alexandria85.5 mi away

1%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%640

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

How far

How far Westlake commutes

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

73%

21%

73%Under 10 mi

2%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Westlake is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Westlake are

1,027 jobs are based in Westlake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Westlake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Westlake

1,027 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Westlake residents hold

1,719 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−63%

Jobs based in Westlake, 2013 → 2023: 2,747 → 1,027. 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.