John Lawton House · Photo: Jud McCranie · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Estill have lower incomes than those in 98% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 24.4%; South Carolina has 14.1%. Jobs and income earn Estill D−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 6% work in Estill itself; outside it, Hampton draws the most (8%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Estill apart on work
Fewer jobs are based in Estill than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Estill fell from 627 in 2013 to 323 in 2023, −48%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Estill workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; with 544 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Estill
On income, poverty and job access, Estill is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Estill’s grade.
Unemployment (6.4%) is left out: Estill’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, Estill could be anywhere from D− to D.
28% of the jobs in Estill make or build things
323 jobs are based in Estill.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Estill, 2013 → 2023: 627 → 323. 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 Estill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Estill commutes
About 36% 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 trip from Estill: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Estill workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 816 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.
Who leaves Estill for work, and who comes in
On a workday 513 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 292 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Estill on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
Where Estill goes to work
Where Estill clocks in
8% 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.
Most trips from Estill start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Estill is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.4% across South Carolina, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 852 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). 15.5% of Estill households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Estill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Estill next to U.S. towns of 1,200 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 293 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 414 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,943 | Bruce MS | 1,608 | $27K | 31.1% | 3.2% | 14% | D− |
| 5,944 | Hayti MO | 2,277 | $25K | 42.5% | 10.5% | 24% | D− |
| 5,945 | Estill SC | 1,778 | $36K | 24.4% | 6.4% | 6% | D− |
| 5,946 | Blackville SC | 1,925 | $22K | 32.9% | 1.5% | 6% | D− |
| 5,947 | Ansted WV | 1,273 | $38K | 27.2% | 2.5% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Estill, 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 Estill: questions
What is the median household income in Estill?
$36,111 (±$9,254) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Estill?
24.4%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Estill?
37 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 Estill work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hampton (8%, 11 mi), Varnville (7%, 12 mi), Bluffton (5%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Estill walkable?
Estill is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Estill without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Estill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Estill
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.