Arcadia Mill No. 2 · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0At 7.9%, unemployment in Arcadia is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Arcadia are C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Measured by household income, Arcadia is behind 81% of U.S. towns. Home is the office for 2% of workers, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Arcadia
The jobs in Arcadia pay better than its residents’ jobs
70% of the jobs based in Arcadia pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 46% of the jobs Arcadia residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Arcadia. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Arcadia 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 ↓
A young workforce
30% of Arcadia’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Few Arcadia workers work from home
Only 3% 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.
What’s behind Arcadia’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Arcadia is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #106 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Arcadia’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arcadia could be anywhere from D to B+.
Arcadia works in goods: 31% of its jobs
980 jobs are based in Arcadia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arcadia, 2013 → 2023: 784 → 980. 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 Arcadia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Arcadia: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arcadia workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,786 commuters (the 2% 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.
How many people are in Arcadia by day
On a workday 1,305 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 964 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Arcadia on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
14% of working residents work in Spartanburg
Where Arcadia clocks in
14% 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.
How far Arcadia’s workers travel
About 17% 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.
Most trips from Arcadia start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arcadia is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #98 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of 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 1,831 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). 8.8% of Arcadia households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arcadia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Arcadia next to U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600: 3,475th of 4,402 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 512 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,473 | McSherrystown PA | 3,150 | $61K | 19.3% | 8.2% | 2% | C− |
| 3,474 | Poultney VT | 2,962 | $73K | 8.9% | 11.8% | 13% | C− |
| 3,475 | Arcadia SC | 3,426 | $55K | 21.3% | 7.9% | 1% | C− |
| 3,476 | Edenton NC | 4,546 | $38K | 30.0% | 0.0% | 33% | C− |
| 3,477 | Freeland PA | 3,811 | $58K | 24.0% | 5.2% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Arcadia, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Around Arcadia: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Southern Shops (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arcadia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcadia | – | C− | C+ | 21 min | $55,218 |
| Saxon | under 2% | D | B+ | 16 min | $32,292 |
| Fairforest | 3% | C− | D | 24 min | $52,468 |
| Southern Shops | 4% | D | C− | 22 min | $37,754 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arcadia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Arcadia: questions
What is the median household income in Arcadia?
$55,218 (±$10,613) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arcadia?
21.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arcadia?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arcadia work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spartanburg (14%, 4 mi), Greenville (7%, 23 mi), Southern Shops (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arcadia walkable?
Arcadia is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arcadia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arcadia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arcadia
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.