Upper Long Cane Cemetery · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Abbeville are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 12% for South Carolina as a whole. 27.3% of residents are in poverty (South Carolina 14.1%). Jobs and income earn Abbeville D; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Abbeville apart on work
Abbeville trades workers with the towns around it
Abbeville has about as many jobs (2,133) as working residents (1,982), but they are mostly different people: 1,662 residents leave for work each day while 1,813 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Abbeville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Abbeville are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Abbeville workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Where Abbeville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Abbeville is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #156 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Abbeville’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($40,575, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Abbeville could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who works in Abbeville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,662 residents head out to work, 320 work right here, and 1,813 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.
Commuting from Abbeville: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Abbeville workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,612 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% 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.
14% of working residents work in Greenwood
Where Abbeville clocks in
14% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
Inside Abbeville’s 2,133 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Abbeville, 2013 → 2023: 2,239 → 2,133. 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 Abbeville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Abbeville works
About 23% 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.
Abbeville is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Abbeville is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #140 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.4% across South Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,672 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). 22.5% of Abbeville households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Abbeville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Abbeville compares with 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Baxter Village SC | 4,542 | $152K | 9.2% | 4.1% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,685 | Torrington WY | 6,205 | $48K | 18.8% | 7.2% | 56% | D |
| 3,686 | Stilwell OK | 3,892 | $37K | 34.2% | 5.7% | 31% | D |
| 3,687 | Abbeville SC | 4,902 | $41K | 27.3% | 7.5% | 16% | D |
| 3,688 | Morongo Valley CA | 4,209 | $52K | 24.9% | 8.4% | 4% | D |
| 3,689 | Nashville AR | 3,945 | $41K | 27.3% | 6.9% | 34% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Abbeville, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
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 Abbeville: questions
What is the median household income in Abbeville?
$40,575 (±$4,116) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Abbeville?
27.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Abbeville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Abbeville work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenwood (14%, 13 mi), Columbia (2%, 85 mi), Anderson (2%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Abbeville walkable?
Abbeville is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Abbeville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Abbeville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Abbeville
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.