Arial has some of the lowest unemployment in the country, with hardly anyone out of work
The two grades for Arial are B+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Arial is behind 82% of U.S. towns. Hardly any work in Arial; the top destination outside it is Greenville (15%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Arial, in brief
Arial makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in Arial are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Arial residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Arial than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Arial fell from 593 in 2013 to 434 in 2023, −27%. 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 ↓
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.
Inside Arial’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Arial is better than 66% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Arial’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($54,286, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Arial could be anywhere from B− to A.
Factories, building and farms: 51% of the jobs in Arial
434 jobs are based in Arial.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arial, 2013 → 2023: 593 → 434. 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 Arial’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Arial
On a workday 1,039 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 429 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Arial on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.42 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.
Where Arial goes to work
Where Arial clocks in
15% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Arial
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arial workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,000 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.
The commute from Arial, by distance
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.
Getting around Arial: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arial is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Arial 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 1,055 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.0% of Arial households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Arial’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Arial ranks: 1,450th of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 307 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 433 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,448 | Hemlock Township PA | 2,326 | $89K | 14.0% | 1.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,449 | Moretown VT | 1,757 | $104K | 3.1% | 1.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,450 | Arial SC | 1,919 | $54K | 7.9% | 0.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,451 | Philo IL | 1,352 | $106K | 10.3% | 0.9% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,452 | Stedman NC | 1,312 | $107K | 7.5% | 1.7% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Arial, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
The towns around Arial
The biggest share goes to Easley (7%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Arial’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 Arial: questions
What is the median household income in Arial?
$54,286 (±$23,687) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arial?
7.9%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arial?
28 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 Arial work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (15%, 16 mi), Easley (7%, 4 mi), Pickens (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arial walkable?
Arial is more walkable than 32% 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 Arial without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arial, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arial
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.