Elko draws 268 commuters a day, with 4.7 jobs for every working resident
There are 270 jobs in Elko for 58 working residents. Only 3% work in Elko itself; outside it, Williston draws the most (12%, 3 miles). Working from home is the commute for 19% of workers, where South Carolina as a whole has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Elko, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 56 residents head out to work and 2 work right here.
About 350 people are in Elko on a workday afternoon, 151% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Elko, and from where
Where Elko clocks in
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.
100% of the jobs in Elko make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elko, 2013 → 2023: 685 → 270. 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 Elko’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Elko: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elko workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 50 commuters (the 19% 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.
Miles to work from Elko
About 24% 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.
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 Elko: questions
What is the median household income in Elko?
$40,278 (±$33,646) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elko?
26.7%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elko?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elko work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Williston (12%, 3 mi), Barnwell (9%, 10 mi), Columbia (9%, 53 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Elko without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elko, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elko
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.