Arthurtown has some of the lowest household incomes of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Arthurtown is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. Not counting college students, poverty touches 31.3% of residents; South Carolina has 13.5%. For jobs and income Arthurtown is better than 21% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Arthurtown apart
Arthurtown fills up on a workday
Arthurtown has 3,974 jobs, 5.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,600 people are in town, more than double the 3,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Arthurtown works one town over
37% of working residents work in a town that borders Arthurtown: Columbia (33%) and Cayce (4%). Next door ↓
The jobs in Arthurtown pay better than its residents’ jobs
71% of the jobs based in Arthurtown pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 39% of the jobs Arthurtown residents hold. 100% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Arthurtown. 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; with 694 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Arthurtown
Job access by car holds Arthurtown’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($21,046, U.S. $80,734).
56% of Arthurtown’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (55% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 31.3%, against 63.2% for all residents. Unemployment (14.1%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Household income is not adjusted: student households count in the median.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Arthurtown could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Arthurtown
On a workday 684 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 3,964 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Arthurtown on a workday afternoon, 100% more than live here.
5.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
32% of the jobs in Arthurtown make or build things
3,974 jobs are based in Arthurtown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arthurtown, 2013 → 2023: 3,413 → 3,974. 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 Arthurtown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Arthurtown’s workforce comes from
Where Arthurtown clocks in
33% 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.
How long Arthurtown spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arthurtown workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,084 commuters (the 11% 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 far Arthurtown goes to work
About 27% 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.
Getting around Arthurtown: mostly by car
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 1,213 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 89% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 5.3% of Arthurtown households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arthurtown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Arthurtown is 3,537th among 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 503 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,535 | Winchester NH | 4,281 | $68K | 14.1% | 5.7% | 14% | C− |
| 3,536 | Knox Township OH | 4,210 | $50K | 20.5% | 3.6% | 4% | C− |
| 3,537 | Arthurtown SC | 3,272 | $21K | 63.2% | 14.1% | 1% | C− |
| 3,538 | Fowler IN | 2,386 | $54K | 14.3% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| 3,539 | Roseau MN | 2,685 | $60K | 17.8% | 3.8% | 52% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Arthurtown, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Arthurtown and its neighbors: 37% work next door
The biggest share goes to Columbia (33%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arthurtown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthurtown | – | C− | B− | 19 min | $21,046 |
| Columbia | 33% | C− | A+ | 18 min | $55,529 |
| Cayce | 4% | C+ | B− | 20 min | $62,045 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arthurtown’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.
- Students. 56% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Arthurtown: questions
What is the median household income in Arthurtown?
$21,046 (±$7,400) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arthurtown?
63.2% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 31.3%. South Carolina: 14.1%.
How long is the commute from Arthurtown?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arthurtown work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (33%, 8 mi), Cayce (4%, 2 mi), Greenville (3%, 98 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arthurtown walkable?
Arthurtown is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arthurtown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 89% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arthurtown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arthurtown
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.