Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Sweetwater has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 16,626 people commute in to work
Sweetwater has 17,025 jobs; 8,406 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Sweetwater B−; getting around on foot earns it A. Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Sweetwater apart
Stores, warehouses and trucking
57% of the jobs in Sweetwater are in trade, transport and utilities, against 30% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Sweetwater is where the jobs are
Sweetwater has 17,025 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 29,000 people are in town, 41% more than the 21,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Sweetwater has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Sweetwater went from 10,578 in 2013 to 17,025 in 2023, +61%. The jobs ↓
Sweetwater draws workers from far and wide
The 17,025 jobs in Sweetwater are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 37%; the other 61% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Sweetwater residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Sweetwater’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sweetwater is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #380 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Sweetwater’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($54,967, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sweetwater could be anywhere from C to B+.
The kinds of work in Sweetwater
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sweetwater, 2013 → 2023: 10,578 → 17,025. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sweetwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Sweetwater
On a workday 8,007 residents head out to work and 399 work right here.
About 29,000 people are in Sweetwater on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Sweetwater’s workforce comes from
Where Sweetwater clocks in
15% of workers
11% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Miles to work from Sweetwater
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How long Sweetwater spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sweetwater workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,212 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Good to walk, short on transit: Sweetwater
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sweetwater is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #123 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,033 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 78% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.7% of Sweetwater households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Sweetwater’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sweetwater places 1,190th of 1,705 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Pinecrest FL | 18,635 | $206K | 4.3% | 3.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,188 | Southern Pines NC | 17,357 | $89K | 9.6% | 6.7% | 19% | B− |
| 1,189 | Piqua OH | 21,064 | $68K | 17.6% | 3.7% | 23% | B− |
| 1,190 | Sweetwater FL | 20,828 | $55K | 16.3% | 4.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,191 | Fort Carson CO | 18,019 | $66K | 15.3% | 3.7% | 2% | B− |
| 1,192 | Riverbank CA | 26,557 | $88K | 12.8% | 8.6% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Sweetwater, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 16% of Sweetwater
The biggest share goes to Doral (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sweetwater workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetwater | – | B− | A | 29 min | $54,967 |
| Fountainebleau | 2% | B+ | A− | 28 min | $64,908 |
| Tamiami | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 33 min | $78,353 |
| Doral | 11% | A− | A− | 27 min | $94,164 |
| Westchester | 3% | B | A | 30 min | $72,262 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sweetwater’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Sweetwater: questions
What is the median household income in Sweetwater?
$54,967 (±$5,838) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sweetwater?
16.3%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sweetwater?
29 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sweetwater work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Miami (15%, 11 mi), Doral (11%, 3 mi), Hialeah (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sweetwater walkable?
Sweetwater is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sweetwater without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 78% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sweetwater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sweetwater
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.