Photo: duggar11 · CC BY 2.0At 1.5%, unemployment in Sulphur is lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, where Oklahoma has 22 and the U.S. 26. The two grades for Sulphur are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in four stay in Sulphur for work; outside it, Ardmore is the main destination (9%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sulphur, in a few figures
Sulphur trades workers with the towns around it
Sulphur has about as many jobs (2,102) as working residents (1,954), but they are mostly different people: 1,492 residents leave for work each day while 1,640 people come in. Only 22% of the jobs in Sulphur are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Sulphur’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sulphur is Ardmore, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (174) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Sulphur
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sulphur is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #34 of 131 in Oklahoma. Unemployment holds Sulphur’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sulphur could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,492 residents head out to work, 462 work right here, and 1,640 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 (1.08 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 far Sulphur’s workers travel
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.
Where people from Sulphur work
Where Sulphur clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
The 2,102 jobs based in Sulphur
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sulphur, 2013 → 2023: 2,445 → 2,102. 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oklahoma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sulphur workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,978 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 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.
For most of Sulphur, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sulphur is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #33 of 131 in Oklahoma. 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 2,047 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). 6.4% of Sulphur households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sulphur’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Sulphur is 2,389th of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Nichols Hills OK | 3,864 | $208K | 2.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Verdigris OK | 5,888 | $84K | 6.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 971 | Goldsby OK | 3,591 | $103K | 11.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,387 | Felix Township IL | 4,531 | $71K | 8.6% | 7.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,388 | Coarsegold CA | 3,967 | $81K | 6.2% | 4.9% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,389 | Sulphur OK | 4,878 | $67K | 15.5% | 1.5% | 24% | C+ |
| 2,390 | Randolph Township OH | 5,337 | $65K | 7.5% | 9.3% | 8% | C+ |
| 2,391 | Reedurban OH | 4,900 | $57K | 18.6% | 4.0% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | 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 Sulphur, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
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?
$66,957 (±$12,526) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sulphur?
15.5%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sulphur?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sulphur work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ardmore (9%, 23 mi), Oklahoma City (6%, 73 mi), Ada (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sulphur walkable?
Sulphur is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sulphur without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% 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.