Photo: Chris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Sunset commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Sunset C+; getting around on foot earns it B. 535 jobs are based in Sunset, and 988 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% work in Sunset; the top destination outside it is Lafayette (24%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sunset: the figures worth knowing
Sunset and Lafayette trade workers both ways
Lafayette is the top workplace for Sunset residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Sunset come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Sunset
47% of Sunset residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Sunset pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. 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 988 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Sunset earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sunset is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #56 of 161 in Louisiana. Job access by car holds Sunset’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sunset could be anywhere from D to A−.
Where Sunset’s working residents head each day
Where Sunset clocks in
24% of workers
9% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Sunset
About 33% 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.
Jobs in Sunset: what the 535 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunset, 2013 → 2023: 415 → 535. 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 Sunset’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Sunset
On a workday 960 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 507 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Sunset on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer 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.
The daily trip from Sunset: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunset workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,282 commuters (the 11% 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.
Most of Sunset commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sunset is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #76 of 161 in Louisiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,447 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). 13.9% of Sunset households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sunset’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sunset places 2,852nd of 4,698 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Hahnville LA | 3,520 | $101K | 6.7% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 479 | Des Allemands LA | 2,382 | $88K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 760 | South Vacherie LA | 2,954 | $81K | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,850 | Owens Cross Roads AL | 3,334 | $86K | 10.1% | 10.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,851 | Bal Harbour FL | 3,036 | $81K | 20.1% | 9.4% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,852 | Sunset LA | 3,194 | $61K | 15.5% | 4.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,853 | Canton SD | 3,001 | $61K | 8.1% | 5.4% | 19% | C+ |
| 2,854 | Clifton TX | 3,523 | $65K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 25% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Sunset, the top three, the last and three more from Louisiana.
The towns around Sunset
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sunset workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset | – | C+ | B | 33 min | $60,964 |
| Grand Coteau | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Grand Coteau: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sunset’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 Sunset: questions
What is the median household income in Sunset?
$60,964 (±$20,987) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunset?
15.5%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunset?
33 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunset work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (24%, 14 mi), Opelousas (9%, 8 mi), Baton Rouge (5%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sunset walkable?
Sunset is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sunset without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sunset, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunset
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.