Berea has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
There are 1,862 jobs in Berea, against 5,788 working residents. Jobs and income earn Berea C−; getting around on foot earns it C+. Measured by household income, Berea is behind 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Berea
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Berea is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #107 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Berea’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berea could be anywhere from D to C+.
A workday in Berea: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 5,669 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 1,743 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Berea on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
26% of working residents work in Greenville
Where Berea clocks in
26% 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.
The kinds of work in Berea
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berea, 2013 → 2023: 1,658 → 1,862. 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 Berea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Berea
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berea workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,741 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Berea
About 15% 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.
Berea is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berea is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #95 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 7,229 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 6.3% of Berea households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Berea’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, Berea comes 1,744th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Tega Cay SC | 14,457 | $142K | 1.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 147 | Five Forks SC | 18,656 | $142K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | James Island SC | 12,660 | $104K | 5.6% | 1.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,742 | Jamestown ND | 15,688 | $57K | 14.7% | 4.9% | 57% | C− |
| 1,743 | Waianae HI | 12,918 | $82K | 16.2% | 8.8% | 6% | C− |
| 1,744 | Berea SC | 16,862 | $50K | 22.9% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| 1,745 | Aldine TX | 17,167 | $44K | 30.3% | 8.5% | 5% | C− |
| 1,746 | Gloversville NY | 14,782 | $52K | 17.6% | 4.4% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Berea, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Berea and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Sans Souci (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berea workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berea | – | C− | C+ | 25 min | $49,829 |
| Parker | under 2% | C− | B+ | 24 min | $40,043 |
| Sans Souci | 1% | C+ | A− | 23 min | $45,069 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Berea’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 Berea: questions
What is the median household income in Berea?
$49,829 (±$4,543) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berea?
22.9%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berea?
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 Berea work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (26%, 6 mi), Mauldin (4%, 11 mi), Travelers Rest (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Berea walkable?
Berea is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berea
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.