Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Gaston earn less than those in 74% of U.S. towns
Gaston grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability. 18.0% of residents live below the poverty line (South Carolina 14.1%). Only 1% work in Gaston itself; outside it, Columbia draws the most (15%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Gaston: the figures worth knowing
Fewer jobs are based in Gaston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Gaston fell from 977 in 2013 to 513 in 2023, −47%. 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 ↓
Many jobs in Gaston pay little
35% of the jobs based in Gaston pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 34% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Gaston
50% of Gaston residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 24% of the jobs based in Gaston pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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 596 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Gaston’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Gaston is better than 30% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Gaston’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Gaston’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, Gaston could be anywhere from C− to B.
What work there is in Gaston: 513 jobs
513 jobs are based in Gaston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gaston, 2013 → 2023: 977 → 513. 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 Gaston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Gaston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 590 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 507 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 (0.86 per resident).
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 Gaston goes to work
Where Gaston clocks in
15% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
How long Gaston spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gaston workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 826 commuters (the 9% 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 in the region Gaston works
About 21% 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.
Few in Gaston walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gaston is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 904 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 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). 1.9% of Gaston households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gaston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Gaston ranks: 3,209th of 5,381 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 254 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 258 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 355 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,207 | Lake City IA | 1,640 | $74K | 10.9% | 1.5% | 36% | C |
| 3,208 | Mercersburg PA | 1,492 | $66K | 10.4% | 4.8% | 9% | C |
| 3,209 | Gaston SC | 1,651 | $60K | 18.0% | 2.5% | 1% | C |
| 3,210 | Goldthwaite TX | 1,774 | $55K | 4.7% | 4.4% | 30% | C |
| 3,211 | Fairview Park IN | 1,420 | $63K | 11.6% | 5.3% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | 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 Gaston, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Next door to Gaston
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gaston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaston | – | C | D | 27 min | $60,000 |
| Swansea | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Swansea: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gaston’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 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 Gaston: questions
What is the median household income in Gaston?
$60,000 (±$17,234) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gaston?
18.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gaston?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gaston work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (15%, 19 mi), West Columbia (5%, 12 mi), Lexington (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gaston walkable?
Gaston is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gaston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gaston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gaston
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.