John J. Kaminer House · Photo: Eastward Gypsy · CC BY-SA 4.0Gadsden has 0.0 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C−: better than 19% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C: more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 27 minutes each way (South Carolina 26, U.S. 26). Only 0% work in Gadsden; the top destination outside it is Columbia (33%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Gadsden, in brief
Gadsden is a place people come home to
There are 18 jobs based in Gadsden, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Gadsden has about 970 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Gadsden works in Columbia
161 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Columbia, 15 miles away. That’s far more as work in Gadsden itself. The commute map ↓
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 492 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Gadsden’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Gadsden is better than 19% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Gadsden’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (29.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (15.2%) is left out: Gadsden’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Gadsden could be anywhere from D to B−.
Gadsden quiets down on a workday
On a workday 491 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 17 people come in from elsewhere.
About 970 people are in Gadsden on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.04 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.
33% of working residents work in Columbia
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Gadsden clocks in
33% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 18 jobs in Gadsden are
18 jobs are based in Gadsden. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gadsden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gadsden, 2013 → 2023: 8 → 18. 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.
About 27 minutes each way, about the SC average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gadsden workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 374 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.
Half of Gadsden commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
Most trips from Gadsden start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gadsden is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.4% across South Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 391 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 91% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.7% of Gadsden households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gadsden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gadsden is 4,098th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Gadsden, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 240 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 467 | Cane Savannah SC | 1,551 | $132K | 4.6% | 11.8% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 902 | Shell Point SC | 1,439 | $82K | 3.1% | 6.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,096 | Preston Township PA | 1,013 | $71K | 11.8% | 1.8% | 7% | C− |
| 4,097 | Fort Dick CA | 1,365 | $71K | 15.6% | 13.2% | 2% | C− |
| 4,098 | Gadsden SC | 1,443 | $53K | 29.0% | 15.2% | <1% | C− |
| 4,099 | Celoron NY | 1,049 | $52K | 16.6% | 5.8% | 2% | C− |
| 4,100 | Clark Township IN | 1,087 | $64K | 10.2% | 7.6% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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.
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 Gadsden: questions
What is the median household income in Gadsden?
$52,966 (±$27,193) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gadsden?
29.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gadsden?
27 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 Gadsden work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (33%, 15 mi), Arthurtown (3%, 16 mi), Seven Oaks (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gadsden walkable?
Gadsden is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gadsden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 91% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gadsden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gadsden
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.