Ben Avon has lower household incomes than 90% of U.S. towns
20.3% of residents are in poverty, against 14.1% across South Carolina. Ben Avon grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; the South Carolina average is 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ben Avon: the figures worth knowing
31% of Ben Avon works in Spartanburg
328 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Spartanburg, 3 miles away across the town line. That’s 16 times as many as work in Ben Avon itself. The commute map ↓
Ben Avon makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Ben Avon are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Ben Avon residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. 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.
Jobs & income in Ben Avon: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ben Avon is better than 32% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Ben Avon’s grade up (ahead of 65% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,489, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ben Avon could be anywhere from D to B.
31% of working residents work in Spartanburg
Where Ben Avon clocks in
31% of workers
6% 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.
Ben Avon makes things: 36% of its jobs are in goods
469 jobs are based in Ben Avon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ben Avon, 2013 → 2023: 408 → 469. 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 Ben Avon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Ben Avon
On a workday 1,052 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 452 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Ben Avon on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.44 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.
The daily trip from Ben Avon: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ben Avon workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,278 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.
How many miles Ben Avon commutes
About 18% 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.
In Ben Avon, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ben Avon is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 1,376 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). 1.7% of Ben Avon households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ben Avon’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ben Avon ranks: 3,435th of 5,401 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 327 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 333 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 464 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,433 | Esperance NY | 1,805 | $76K | 8.8% | 6.5% | 2% | C |
| 3,434 | Newport NY | 2,091 | $80K | 15.0% | 8.2% | 8% | C |
| 3,435 | Ben Avon SC | 2,487 | $47K | 20.3% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| 3,436 | Hillsboro KS | 2,646 | $63K | 9.0% | 4.3% | 37% | C |
| 3,437 | Wabash Township IL | 2,056 | $83K | 10.7% | 2.2% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | 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 Ben Avon, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Next door is work for 31% of Ben Avon
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ben Avon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Avon | – | C | C | 25 min | $47,489 |
| Spartanburg | 31% | C− | B+ | 20 min | $51,964 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Spartanburg. Darker towns draw more of Ben Avon’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 Ben Avon: questions
What is the median household income in Ben Avon?
$47,489 (±$9,279) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ben Avon?
20.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ben Avon?
25 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 Ben Avon work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spartanburg (31%, 3 mi), Greenville (6%, 28 mi), Southern Shops (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ben Avon walkable?
Ben Avon is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ben Avon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ben Avon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ben Avon
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.