Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Sweetwater, OK
Hardly any stay in Sweetwater for work; outside it, Erick is the main destination (19%, 14 miles). Home is the office for 0% of workers, next to 9% for Oklahoma as a whole. Working residents average 13 minutes each way, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Sweetwater
On a workday 27 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 36 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 (1.33 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places Sweetwater commutes to
Where Sweetwater clocks in
19% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Sweetwater
36 jobs are based in Sweetwater.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sweetwater, 2014 → 2024: 1 → 36. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sweetwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 13 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oklahoma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sweetwater workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 55 commuters (the 0% 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.
How far it is to work from Sweetwater
About 48% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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?
$55,208 (±$32,199) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sweetwater?
0.0%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sweetwater?
13 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sweetwater work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Erick (19%, 14 mi), Oklahoma City (11%, 136 mi), Cheyenne (7%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Sweetwater without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 2024, 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.