Photo: Bpluke01 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Simpsonville (1.8%) is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 25 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Simpsonville is better than 87% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (C). Only 5% work in Simpsonville itself; outside it, Louisville draws the most (16%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Simpsonville: the gist
Jobs in Simpsonville have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Simpsonville went from 509 in 2013 to 1,515 in 2023, +198%. The jobs ↓
Simpsonville trades workers with the towns around it
Simpsonville has about as many jobs (1,515) as working residents (1,471), but they are mostly different people: 1,401 residents leave for work each day while 1,445 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Simpsonville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Simpsonville and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for Simpsonville residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Simpsonville come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
48% of the jobs in Simpsonville are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Simpsonville are held by workers 29 or younger, against 24% of Simpsonville’s own working residents. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Simpsonville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Simpsonville could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
What the 1,515 jobs in Simpsonville are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Simpsonville, 2013 → 2023: 509 → 1,515. 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 Simpsonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Simpsonville for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,401 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 1,445 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 (1.03 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.
Commuting out of Simpsonville: the destinations
Where Simpsonville clocks in
9% 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.
Time on the road from Simpsonville: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Simpsonville workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,407 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Simpsonville
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.
Driving is how Simpsonville gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,613 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). 3.3% of Simpsonville households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Simpsonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300, Simpsonville ranks 515th of 4,698 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 513 | Jefferson Township IN | 2,299 | $105K | 5.5% | 1.4% | 3% | A |
| 514 | Trinity AL | 2,638 | $101K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 3% | A |
| 515 | Simpsonville KY | 3,183 | $91K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 5% | A |
| 516 | Liverpool NY | 2,231 | $87K | 6.3% | 2.0% | 5% | A |
| 517 | Oyster Bay Cove NY | 2,288 | $250K | 6.3% | 5.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Simpsonville, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Simpsonville: questions
What is the median household income in Simpsonville?
$91,188 (±$13,320) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Simpsonville?
6.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Simpsonville?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Simpsonville work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (16%, 17 mi), Shelbyville (9%, 6 mi), Jeffersontown (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Simpsonville walkable?
Simpsonville is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Simpsonville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Simpsonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Simpsonville
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.