Work & commute · Sweetwater

Work & commute in Sweetwater, TX

41% of Sweetwater’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Abilene (9%), San Angelo (3%) and Fort Worth (2%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

41%

1,959 of 4,782 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 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 2,823 Sweetwater residents head out of town to work, 1,959 work right here, and 2,298 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sweetwater.

2,823live here, work elsewhere

1,959live and work here

2,298work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sweetwater goes to work

Sweetwater (in town)right here

41%1,959

Abilene39.1 mi away

9%427

San Angelo71.1 mi away

3%146

Fort Worth179.4 mi away

2%115

Dallas213.1 mi away

2%81

Roscoe7.5 mi away

2%72

Austin216.8 mi away

2%72

Midland104.3 mi away

1%53

Weatherford155.1 mi away

1%51

Snyder33.8 mi away

1%50

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%1,756

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

How far

How far Sweetwater commutes

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

49%

13%

36%

49%Under 10 mi

2%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

36%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sweetwater is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sweetwater are

4,257 jobs are based in Sweetwater. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sweetwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sweetwater

4,257 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Sweetwater residents hold

4,782 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−5%

Jobs based in Sweetwater, 2013 → 2023: 4,466 → 4,257. 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.