Mount Carmel A.M.E. Zion Campground · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Elgin has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers; South Carolina has 12%. Jobs and income earn Elgin A−; getting around on foot earns it D. Hardly any work in Elgin; the top destination outside it is Lancaster (16%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Elgin
Elgin is a place people come home to
There are 65 jobs based in Elgin, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Elgin has about 1,400 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Elgin workers work from home
Only 0% 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.
Elgin’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elgin is better than 82% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Elgin’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elgin could be anywhere from B to A.
A workday in Elgin: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 997 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 62 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Elgin on a workday afternoon, 40% fewer than live here.
0.07 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.
Getting to work from Elgin takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,128 commuters (the 0% 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.
Where Elgin goes to work
Where Elgin clocks in
16% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
Inside Elgin’s 65 jobs
65 jobs are based in Elgin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 48 → 65. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Elgin
About 20% 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.
Most of Elgin commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elgin is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Elgin 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 1,128 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). 6.4% of Elgin households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elgin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200, Elgin comes 652nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 301 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 306 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 424 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 650 | Ontelaunee Township PA | 3,157 | $111K | 8.0% | 3.6% | 4% | A− |
| 651 | Camanche Village CA | 2,291 | $156K | 2.4% | 1.3% | 0% | A− |
| 652 | Elgin SC | 2,360 | $78K | 2.9% | 1.0% | <1% | A− |
| 653 | Gladeville TN | 2,199 | $97K | 1.7% | 5.4% | <1% | A− |
| 654 | Marlborough MO | 2,185 | $50K | 4.6% | 0.7% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Elgin, 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 Elgin: questions
What is the median household income in Elgin?
$77,994 (±$20,837) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
2.9%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elgin?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lancaster (16%, 5 mi), Charlotte (9%, 38 mi), Rock Hill (9%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elgin walkable?
Elgin is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.