Photo: Pollinator at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Conway (8.3%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Conway is behind 79% of U.S. towns. Conway grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four stay in Conway for work; outside it, Myrtle Beach is the main destination (16%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Conway, in a few figures
Conway is where the jobs are
Conway has 23,074 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 43,000 people are in town, 41% more than the 31,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Conway has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Conway went from 14,467 in 2013 to 23,074 in 2023, +59%. The jobs ↓
Conway draws workers from far and wide
The 23,074 jobs in Conway are filled from a wide area. Conway’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Conway’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Conway is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #125 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Conway’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Conway could be anywhere from D to C.
In and out of Conway on a workday
On a workday 8,011 residents head out to work, 2,615 work right here, and 20,459 people come in from elsewhere.
About 43,000 people are in Conway on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
2.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Conway is a services town
23,074 jobs are based in Conway.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Conway, 2013 → 2023: 14,467 → 23,074. 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 Conway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Conway
Where Conway clocks in
16% 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.
Conway’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Conway workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,056 commuters (the 6% 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 Conway
About 22% 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.
Conway is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Conway is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #26 of 169 in South Carolina. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.4% across South Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,754 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). 9.6% of Conway households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Conway’s commuters take a bus or train.
Conway next to U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Fort Mill SC | 38,673 | $122K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 291 | Bluffton SC | 36,807 | $111K | 4.3% | 2.2% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 579 | Hanahan SC | 22,415 | $88K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,333 | Hammond LA | 24,032 | $48K | 28.9% | 5.9% | 28% | C− |
| 1,334 | Adelanto CA | 38,798 | $69K | 17.2% | 11.8% | 8% | C− |
| 1,335 | Conway SC | 30,627 | $57K | 21.0% | 8.3% | 25% | C− |
| 1,336 | Corsicana TX | 25,487 | $57K | 18.1% | 6.4% | 33% | C− |
| 1,337 | Searcy AR | 24,351 | $52K | 18.8% | 6.1% | 47% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Conway, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Conway and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Carolina Forest (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Conway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway | – | C− | A− | 24 min | $56,650 |
| Red Hill | 3% | C | B− | 22 min | $68,250 |
| Homewood | 1% | B− | C | 26 min | $64,659 |
| Carolina Forest | 4% | C+ | C+ | 22 min | $74,436 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Conway’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 Conway: questions
What is the median household income in Conway?
$56,650 (±$6,653) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Conway?
21.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Conway?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Conway work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Myrtle Beach (16%, 13 mi), Carolina Forest (4%, 9 mi), North Myrtle Beach (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Conway walkable?
Conway is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Conway without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Conway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Conway
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.