Appin (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Bennettsville earn less than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 28.4% of residents (South Carolina 14.1%). Bennettsville grades D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in seven stay in Bennettsville for work; outside it, Cheraw is the main destination (8%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Bennettsville
No single place dominates Bennettsville’s commute
The biggest draw, Cheraw, gets only 8% of working residents, and 60% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Bennettsville residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bennettsville than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bennettsville fell from 2,657 in 2014 to 2,003 in 2024, −25%. 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 2024, 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 Bennettsville: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bennettsville is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #160 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Bennettsville’s grade up (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (12.5%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bennettsville could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where Bennettsville goes to work
Where Bennettsville clocks in
8% 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 far Bennettsville’s workers travel
About 36% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The 2,003 jobs based in Bennettsville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bennettsville, 2014 → 2024: 2,657 → 2,003. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bennettsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Bennettsville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,141 residents head out to work, 346 work right here, and 1,657 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Bennettsville: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bennettsville workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,307 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.
Most of Bennettsville commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bennettsville is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #74 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 2,433 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). 22.7% of Bennettsville households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bennettsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Bennettsville sits among U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 223 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 943 | Blythewood SC | 7,233 | $94K | 4.8% | 5.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,039 | Murrells Inlet SC | 10,044 | $77K | 7.3% | 2.0% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,021 | Greenville AL | 6,912 | $41K | 31.6% | 6.6% | 37% | D− |
| 3,022 | Leitchfield KY | 7,015 | $44K | 24.3% | 10.2% | 34% | D− |
| 3,023 | Bennettsville SC | 7,565 | $37K | 28.4% | 12.5% | 14% | D− |
| 3,024 | Salton City CA | 5,988 | $48K | 14.4% | 12.8% | 6% | D− |
| 3,025 | Salamanca NY | 5,719 | $42K | 24.4% | 8.6% | 26% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Bennettsville, 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 2024, 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 Bennettsville: questions
What is the median household income in Bennettsville?
$37,115 (±$9,720) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bennettsville?
28.4%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bennettsville?
29 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 Bennettsville work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cheraw (8%, 14 mi), Florence (4%, 32 mi), Columbia (3%, 80 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bennettsville walkable?
Bennettsville is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bennettsville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bennettsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bennettsville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.