Sulphur’s household incomes are lower than in 71% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Sulphur C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. 16.0% of residents are in poverty, against 18.9% across Louisiana. About one in five stay in Sulphur for work; outside it, Lake Charles is the main destination (33%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Sulphur
Sulphur trades workers with the towns around it
Sulphur has about as many jobs (8,334) as working residents (7,787), but they are mostly different people: 6,335 residents leave for work each day while 6,882 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Sulphur are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Sulphur are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Louisiana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Louisiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Sulphur and Lake Charles trade workers both ways
Lake Charles is the top workplace for Sulphur residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Sulphur come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Sulphur residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Sulphur draws workers from far and wide
The 8,334 jobs in Sulphur are filled from a wide area. Sulphur’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 27%; the other 56% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Sulphur
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sulphur is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #57 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Sulphur’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sulphur could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who commutes out of Sulphur, and who commutes in
On a workday 6,335 residents head out to work, 1,452 work right here, and 6,882 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Sulphur spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sulphur workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,555 commuters (the 4% 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.
Where people from Sulphur work
Where Sulphur clocks in
2% 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.
How many miles Sulphur commutes
About 21% 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.
The kinds of work in Sulphur
8,334 jobs are based in Sulphur.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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.
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 Sulphur’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Sulphur is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sulphur is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #36 of 161 in Louisiana. Both inputs place Sulphur near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,869 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.2% of Sulphur households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sulphur’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sulphur is 1,437th of 1,931 U.S. towns of 14,000 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 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 454 | Youngsville LA | 19,980 | $106K | 9.1% | 1.2% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 861 | Broussard LA | 15,799 | $116K | 13.4% | 3.6% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,201 | Zachary LA | 20,621 | $84K | 8.5% | 6.9% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,435 | Horseheads NY | 18,383 | $69K | 12.8% | 4.9% | 22% | C+ |
| 1,436 | West Park FL | 15,444 | $66K | 14.6% | 8.7% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,437 | Sulphur LA | 20,492 | $62K | 16.0% | 4.3% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,438 | Frenchtown Township MI | 21,753 | $66K | 15.1% | 5.9% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,439 | Winder GA | 21,252 | $64K | 13.2% | 5.5% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,931 | 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 Sulphur, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
Sulphur and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Carlyss (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Sulphur’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 Sulphur: questions
What is the median household income in Sulphur?
$61,760 (±$6,200) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sulphur?
16.0%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sulphur?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sulphur work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Charles (33%, 9 mi), Carlyss (3%, 4 mi), Baton Rouge (2%, 134 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sulphur walkable?
Sulphur is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sulphur without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sulphur, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sulphur
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.