Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put Allendale near the very bottom of U.S. towns
The two grades for Allendale are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Allendale is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 45.1% of residents; South Carolina has 14.1%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Allendale
Fewer jobs are based in Allendale than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Allendale fell from 1,042 in 2013 to 529 in 2023, −49%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Allendale workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Allendale’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% 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.
The figures behind Allendale’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Allendale is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Allendale’s grade.
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Allendale’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Allendale stays D−.
The 529 jobs based in Allendale
529 jobs are based in Allendale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Allendale, 2013 → 2023: 1,042 → 529. 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 Allendale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Allendale
About 42% 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.
Who leaves Allendale for work, and who comes in
On a workday 984 residents head out to work, 113 work right here, and 416 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Allendale on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.48 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.
6% of working residents work in Columbia
Where Allendale clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
From Allendale, about 30 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Allendale workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 750 commuters (the 5% 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.
Few in Allendale walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Allendale is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Allendale 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 791 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). 19.9% of Allendale households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Allendale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Allendale sits among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 316 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 322 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 445 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,170 | Durant MS | 1,958 | $30K | 31.8% | 0.0% | 6% | D− |
| 5,171 | Licking MO | 2,958 | $36K | 37.5% | 20.4% | 16% | D− |
| 5,172 | Allendale SC | 2,427 | $24K | 45.1% | 2.3% | 10% | D− |
| 5,173 | Homestead Valley CA | 2,689 | $45K | 28.0% | 11.5% | 3% | D− |
| 5,174 | Livingston AL | 3,242 | $24K | 27.8% | 20.6% | 33% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Allendale, 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 Allendale: questions
What is the median household income in Allendale?
$23,529 (±$8,477) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Allendale?
45.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Allendale?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Allendale work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (6%, 75 mi), Barnwell (4%, 16 mi), Fairfax (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Allendale walkable?
Allendale is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Allendale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Allendale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Allendale
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.