Great Branch Teacherage · Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Edisto are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Edisto D; getting around on foot earns it D−. Below the poverty line: 25.2% of residents, next to 14.1% for South Carolina as a whole. Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, next to 12% for South Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Edisto in brief
Edisto makes and builds things
76% of the jobs based in Edisto are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Edisto residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Edisto pay better than its residents’ jobs
81% of the jobs based in Edisto pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 41% of the jobs Edisto residents hold. 97% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Edisto. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Edisto than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Edisto fell from 780 in 2013 to 422 in 2023, −46%. 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 ↓
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; with 914 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Edisto’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Edisto is better than 9% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Edisto’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (0.2%) is left out: Edisto’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Edisto could be anywhere from D to C.
76% of the jobs in Edisto make or build things
422 jobs are based in Edisto.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Edisto, 2013 → 2023: 780 → 422. 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 Edisto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Edisto on a workday afternoon
On a workday 903 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 411 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Edisto on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.46 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 Orangeburg
Where Edisto clocks in
17% 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.
How long Edisto spends getting to work: about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Edisto workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 786 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far Edisto’s workers travel
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.
For most of Edisto, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Edisto is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Edisto 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 822 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). 7.4% of Edisto households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Edisto’s commuters take a bus or train.
Edisto places 4,563rd of 5,343 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 268 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 383 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,561 | Fork Township MI | 1,700 | $56K | 14.7% | 7.7% | 4% | D |
| 4,562 | Lebanon NY | 1,328 | $67K | 24.2% | 19.3% | 2% | D |
| 4,563 | Edisto SC | 1,801 | $47K | 25.2% | 0.2% | 1% | D |
| 4,564 | Bloomington TX | 1,895 | $53K | 25.7% | 7.8% | <1% | D |
| 4,565 | Bayou La Batre AL | 2,068 | $38K | 29.7% | 2.6% | 10% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Edisto, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Edisto’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Edisto workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edisto | – | D | D− | 36 min | $46,788 |
| Orangeburg | 17% | D | B | 24 min | $38,635 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Orangeburg. Darker towns draw more of Edisto’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 Edisto: questions
What is the median household income in Edisto?
$46,788 (±$9,457) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Edisto?
25.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Edisto?
36 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Edisto work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orangeburg (17%, 2 mi), Columbia (5%, 39 mi), Wilkinson Heights (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Edisto walkable?
Edisto is more walkable than 3% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Edisto without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Edisto, from the people who make the trip.
More of Edisto
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.