Photo: CantoV · CC BY-SA 4.0Greenville draws 105,409 commuters a day, with 3.7 jobs for every working resident
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.2 in North Charleston. Employers in Greenville report 117,328 jobs; 31,375 of its residents have a job. Greenville grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Greenville: the figures worth knowing
Greenville fills up on a workday
Greenville has 117,328 jobs, 3.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 161,000 people are in town, more than double the 75,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Greenville draws workers from far and wide
The 117,328 jobs in Greenville are filled from a wide area. Greenville’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 19%; the other 71% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Greenville residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Greenville are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina 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.
Where Greenville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greenville is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #54 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Greenville’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greenville could be anywhere from C+ to B.
A workday in Greenville: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 19,456 residents head out to work and 11,919 work right here.
About 161,000 people are in Greenville on a workday afternoon, 114% 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.
Commuting in to Greenville: where workers come from
Where Greenville clocks in
4% of workers
2% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Greenville
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.
From Greenville, about 19 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greenville workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 33,246 commuters (the 16% 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.
What Greenville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greenville, 2013 → 2023: 94,989 → 117,328. 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 Greenville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Greenville is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greenville is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #5 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 39,527 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 7.9% of Greenville households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Greenville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Greenville next to U.S. towns of 53,000 to 102,000: 378th of 587 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Mount Pleasant SC | 95,469 | $125K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Summerville SC | 53,177 | $81K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 376 | Cicero IL | 81,858 | $71K | 14.6% | 5.0% | 9% | B− |
| 377 | Springdale AR | 90,685 | $70K | 13.4% | 3.7% | 36% | B− |
| 378 | Greenville SC | 75,310 | $71K | 14.0% | 4.4% | 38% | B− |
| 379 | St. Cloud FL | 74,960 | $83K | 10.1% | 5.9% | 8% | B− |
| 380 | Rich Township IL | 74,003 | $84K | 10.6% | 9.8% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 420 | Rock Hill SC | 75,911 | $69K | 12.6% | 5.8% | 29% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Greenville, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Greenville and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Mauldin (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Greenville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | – | B− | A | 19 min | $71,472 |
| Gantt | 2% | C− | B− | 23 min | $47,316 |
| Wade Hampton | 2% | B+ | B+ | 20 min | $77,449 |
| Parker | under 1% | C− | B+ | 24 min | $40,043 |
| Dunean | under 1% | C− | A− | 23 min | $48,553 |
| City View | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Conestee | under 1% | — | — | 40 min | — |
| Judson | under 1% | D | B− | 26 min | $38,646 |
| Mauldin | 4% | B+ | B | 21 min | $82,331 |
| Sans Souci | under 1% | C+ | A− | 23 min | $45,069 |
Same-state neighbors only. City View and Conestee: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Greenville’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 Greenville: questions
What is the median household income in Greenville?
$71,472 (±$2,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greenville?
14.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greenville?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greenville work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mauldin (4%, 5 mi), Wade Hampton (2%, 4 mi), Greer (2%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Greenville walkable?
Greenville is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greenville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greenville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greenville
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.