Household incomes in Garden City trail those of 91% of U.S. towns
Only 7% stay in Garden City for work; outside it, Myrtle Beach is the main destination (15%, 11 miles). The poverty rate is 17.7% (South Carolina 14.1%). For jobs and income Garden City is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Garden City and work: the main findings
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Garden City
Job access by car holds Garden City’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,249, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garden City could be anywhere from D to B−.
What work there is in Garden City: 3,035 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garden City, 2014 → 2024: 2,671 → 3,035. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Garden City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Garden City on a workday
On a workday 3,421 residents head out to work, 277 work right here, and 2,758 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Garden City’s residents
Where Garden City clocks in
15% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Time on the road from Garden City: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garden City workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,780 commuters (the 13% 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.
The commute from Garden City, by distance
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Garden City: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 4,345 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). 4.1% of Garden City households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garden City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Garden City is 2,232nd among 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Tega Cay SC | 14,457 | $142K | 1.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 265 | James Island SC | 12,660 | $104K | 5.6% | 1.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 825 | Powdersville SC | 10,771 | $85K | 9.3% | 1.7% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,230 | Jennings LA | 9,235 | $49K | 19.1% | 4.0% | 28% | C− |
| 2,231 | Artesia NM | 12,735 | $75K | 15.7% | 5.9% | 44% | C− |
| 2,232 | Garden City SC | 11,591 | $47K | 17.7% | 5.1% | 7% | C− |
| 2,233 | Pell City AL | 14,320 | $69K | 20.8% | 7.4% | 19% | C− |
| 2,234 | Warrensville Heights OH | 13,353 | $50K | 21.4% | 8.3% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Garden City, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Garden City’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garden City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | – | C− | B− | 22 min | $47,249 |
| Surfside Beach | 4% | C | B+ | 20 min | $70,106 |
| Murrells Inlet | 7% | B+ | B− | 24 min | $77,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Murrells Inlet. Darker towns draw more of Garden City’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 2024, 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 Garden City: questions
What is the median household income in Garden City?
$47,249 (±$5,748) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garden City?
17.7%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garden City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garden City work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Myrtle Beach (15%, 11 mi), Murrells Inlet (7%, 4 mi), Conway (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Garden City walkable?
Garden City is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garden City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garden City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garden City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.