Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Central is a college town: 30% of residents are students
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.2 in North Charleston. Jobs and income earn Central C−; getting around on foot earns it A. Family incomes here are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Central at work: what stands out
The better-paid jobs are outside Central
50% of Central residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 29% of the jobs based in Central pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Central pay little
30% of the jobs based in Central pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
31% of Central’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Central
On family income, poverty and job access, Central is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #127 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Central’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.8%, U.S. 11.9%).
Unemployment (4.4%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($60,763), since student households pull the household median down ($60,258).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Central could be anywhere from D to C.
Jobs in Central: what the 1,030 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central, 2013 → 2023: 934 → 1,030. 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 Central’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Central quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,953 residents head out to work, 60 work right here, and 970 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Central on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.51 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.
17% of working residents work in Clemson
Where Central clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Central’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,109 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.
Half of Central commutes less than 14 miles
About 16% 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.
Central is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Central is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #8 of 169 in South Carolina. Both inputs place Central near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,266 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 6.9% of Central households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Central’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Central is 3,180th of 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,178 | River Rouge MI | 6,814 | $41K | 39.8% | 11.4% | 4% | C− |
| 3,179 | Truth or Consequences NM | 5,949 | $34K | 31.7% | 1.6% | 48% | C− |
| 3,180 | Central SC | 5,298 | $60K | 30.3% | 4.4% | 3% | C− |
| 3,181 | Penitas TX | 6,495 | $49K | 23.8% | 7.4% | 2% | C− |
| 3,182 | La Verkin UT | 4,515 | $68K | 23.5% | 5.7% | 9% | 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 Central, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
17% of Central works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Clemson. Darker towns draw more of Central’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. 30% 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 Central: questions
What is the median household income in Central?
$60,258 (±$3,174) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central?
30.3% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 24.8%. South Carolina: 14.1%.
How long is the commute from Central?
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 Central work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clemson (17%, 4 mi), Greenville (9%, 25 mi), Anderson (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Central walkable?
Central is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Central without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Central, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central
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.