St. Patrick's Catholic Church · Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 3.0How Empire works: jobs, income and commuting
Employers in Empire report 190 jobs; 296 of its residents have a job. Home is the office for 16% of workers, where Louisiana as a whole has 8%. A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Empire, in a few figures
Empire and Port Sulphur trade workers both ways
Port Sulphur is the top workplace for Empire residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Empire come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Empire than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Empire fell from 311 in 2013 to 190 in 2023, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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; with 296 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
18% of working residents work in Port Sulphur
Where Empire clocks in
18% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Empire
About 41% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
In Empire, 64% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Empire, 2013 → 2023: 311 → 190. 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 Empire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Empire, and who commutes in
On a workday 277 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 171 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Empire on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.64 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Empire, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Empire workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 246 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 85% 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.
Bordering towns draw 18% of Empire’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Empire workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire | – | — | — | 18 min | $47,083 |
| Buras | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Port Sulphur | 18% | D | D− | 27 min | $52,289 |
Same-state neighbors only. Buras: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Port Sulphur. Darker towns draw more of Empire’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 Empire: questions
What is the median household income in Empire?
$47,083 (±$36,945) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Empire?
26.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Empire?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Empire work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port Sulphur (18%, 8 mi), New Orleans (10%, 46 mi), Belle Chasse (5%, 37 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Empire without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Empire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Empire
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.