Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Denmark ranks among the lowest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Jobs and income earn Denmark D−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 35.1% of residents; South Carolina has 14.1%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Denmark, in brief
Commutes from Denmark are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Denmark workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Denmark’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Denmark than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Denmark fell from 1,156 in 2013 to 747 in 2023, −35%. 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 ↓
Few Denmark 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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 ↓
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.
Why Denmark gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Denmark is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #168 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Denmark’s grade up (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (20.4%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Denmark stays D−.
The daily trip from Denmark: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Denmark workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,013 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.
The 747 jobs based in Denmark
747 jobs are based in Denmark.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Denmark, 2013 → 2023: 1,156 → 747. 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 Denmark’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Denmark goes to work
About 32% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Denmark
On a workday 1,069 residents head out to work, 114 work right here, and 633 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Denmark on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
6% of working residents work in Columbia
Where Denmark clocks in
6% 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.
For most of Denmark, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Denmark is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #39 of 169 in South Carolina. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.4% across South Carolina, on an EPA index of 6.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,048 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). 23.4% of Denmark households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Denmark’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Denmark compares with U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 501 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 665 | Keowee Key SC | 3,351 | $125K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,712 | Ferriday LA | 2,984 | $28K | 55.0% | 21.4% | 15% | D− |
| 4,713 | Clayton NM | 2,510 | $35K | 20.5% | 9.4% | 47% | D− |
| 4,714 | Denmark SC | 3,059 | $27K | 35.1% | 20.4% | 10% | D− |
| 4,715 | Escobares TX | 2,585 | $30K | 44.3% | 10.5% | 2% | D− |
| 4,716 | Coleman TX | 3,991 | $35K | 24.7% | 11.6% | 51% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Denmark, 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 Denmark: questions
What is the median household income in Denmark?
$27,451 (±$10,901) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Denmark?
35.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Denmark?
18 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 Denmark work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (6%, 52 mi), Bamberg (5%, 6 mi), Wilkinson Heights (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Denmark walkable?
Denmark is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Denmark without a car?
1% 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 Denmark, from the people who make the trip.
More of Denmark
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.