Photo: Kmiec2015 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Sweeny (2.3%) than in 80% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Sweeny; the top destination outside it is Houston (18%, 54 miles). Sweeny grades B+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. 3.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.8% for Texas as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sweeny: the gist
Sweeny’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Sweeny is Houston, 54 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (250) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Sweeny workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 Sweeny earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sweeny is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #208 of 642 in Texas. The poverty rate holds Sweeny’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sweeny could be anywhere from C to A.
How far Sweeny’s workers travel
About 36% 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 daily trip from Sweeny: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sweeny workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,349 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
Sweeny quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,240 residents head out to work, 147 work right here, and 835 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,200 people are in Sweeny on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
The places Sweeny commutes to
Where Sweeny clocks in
18% of workers
4% 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.
Most jobs in Sweeny are in services
982 jobs are based in Sweeny.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sweeny, 2013 → 2023: 919 → 982. 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 Sweeny’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sweeny, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sweeny is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #488 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,606 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). 0.8% of Sweeny households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sweeny’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,336th of 4,474: where Sweeny ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | June Park FL | 4,255 | $88K | 8.0% | 4.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,335 | Needville TX | 3,114 | $71K | 14.7% | 0.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,336 | Sweeny TX | 3,594 | $73K | 3.3% | 2.3% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,337 | Summerfield Township MI | 3,195 | $93K | 14.5% | 2.3% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,338 | Richmond Township PA | 3,751 | $76K | 8.5% | 3.3% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | 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 Sweeny, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Sweeny: questions
What is the median household income in Sweeny?
$73,457 (±$34,871) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sweeny?
3.3%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sweeny?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sweeny work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (18%, 54 mi), Freeport (6%, 22 mi), Clute (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sweeny walkable?
Sweeny is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sweeny without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sweeny, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sweeny
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.