Photo: JayHendrix74 · CC BY-SA 4.0Batesburg-Leesville’s household incomes are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Batesburg-Leesville; the top destination outside it is Columbia (8%, 37 miles). 15.1% of residents are in poverty, where South Carolina as a whole has 14.1%. Jobs and income earn Batesburg-Leesville C; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Batesburg-Leesville at work: what stands out
Batesburg-Leesville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Batesburg-Leesville is Columbia, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (174) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
No single place dominates Batesburg-Leesville’s commute
The biggest draw, Columbia, gets only 8% of working residents, and 59% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Batesburg-Leesville residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Batesburg-Leesville gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Batesburg-Leesville is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #91 of 168 in South Carolina. Unemployment holds Batesburg-Leesville’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,646, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Batesburg-Leesville could be anywhere from D to B.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Batesburg-Leesville
About 20% 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.
Out of Batesburg-Leesville to work: where people go
Where Batesburg-Leesville clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
A workday in Batesburg-Leesville: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,909 residents head out to work, 398 work right here, and 2,497 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,900 people are in Batesburg-Leesville on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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.
The kinds of work in Batesburg-Leesville
2,895 jobs are based in Batesburg-Leesville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Batesburg-Leesville, 2013 → 2023: 2,427 → 2,895. 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 Batesburg-Leesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes to work from Batesburg-Leesville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Batesburg-Leesville workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,938 commuters (the 7% 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.
Batesburg-Leesville is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Batesburg-Leesville is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #96 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 2,090 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 9.9% of Batesburg-Leesville households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Batesburg-Leesville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Batesburg-Leesville is 2,700th among 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 236 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,698 | Clearlake Riviera CA | 4,122 | $89K | 6.1% | 15.3% | 3% | C |
| 2,699 | Mount Healthy OH | 6,917 | $55K | 21.0% | 5.9% | 3% | C |
| 2,700 | Batesburg-Leesville SC | 5,346 | $50K | 15.1% | 3.5% | 17% | C |
| 2,701 | Arcade NY | 4,193 | $62K | 11.4% | 3.5% | 22% | C |
| 2,702 | Jasper GA | 5,400 | $52K | 27.2% | 0.1% | 16% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | 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 Batesburg-Leesville, 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 Batesburg-Leesville: questions
What is the median household income in Batesburg-Leesville?
$49,646 (±$14,986) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Batesburg-Leesville?
15.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Batesburg-Leesville?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Batesburg-Leesville work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (8%, 37 mi), Lexington (5%, 18 mi), Cayce (3%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Batesburg-Leesville walkable?
Batesburg-Leesville is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Batesburg-Leesville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Batesburg-Leesville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Batesburg-Leesville
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.