Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Darlington earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Darlington is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). 30.2% of residents are in poverty, next to 14.1% for South Carolina as a whole. 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Darlington apart on work
Commutes from Darlington are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Darlington workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Darlington’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Few Darlington workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 Darlington: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Darlington’s grade up (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($33,952, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Darlington could be anywhere from D to C+.
The trip to work from Darlington: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Darlington workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,113 commuters (the 3% 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.
Inside Darlington’s 3,676 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Darlington, 2013 → 2023: 3,700 → 3,676. 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 Darlington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Darlington
On a workday 2,251 residents head out to work, 374 work right here, and 3,302 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,100 people are in Darlington on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
21% of working residents work in Florence
Where Darlington clocks in
21% 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.
Darlington’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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.
Darlington is a driving town
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 2,181 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). 20.2% of Darlington households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Darlington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Darlington sits among U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,200
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Lake Murray of Richland SC | 7,023 | $119K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 690 | Baxter Village SC | 4,542 | $152K | 9.2% | 4.1% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,043 | Gilmer TX | 5,287 | $44K | 18.3% | 8.9% | 19% | D |
| 3,044 | Fredericktown MO | 4,584 | $49K | 16.9% | 5.9% | 27% | D |
| 3,045 | Darlington SC | 6,075 | $34K | 30.2% | 7.1% | 14% | D |
| 3,046 | Colusa CA | 6,519 | $71K | 18.1% | 10.3% | 25% | D |
| 3,047 | Lamar CO | 7,588 | $53K | 21.3% | 4.8% | 49% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,307 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Darlington, 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 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 Darlington: questions
What is the median household income in Darlington?
$33,952 (±$9,086) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Darlington?
30.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Darlington?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Darlington work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Florence (21%, 10 mi), Hartsville (4%, 13 mi), Columbia (3%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Darlington walkable?
Darlington is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Darlington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Darlington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Darlington
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.