Photo: change-of-venue from Greenville, South Carolina, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Greenwood’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 10% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #145 of 168 in South Carolina.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns · #33 of 169 in South Carolina.
Working residents average 18 minutes each way (South Carolina 26, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Greenwood; the top destination outside it is Columbia (3%, 73 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Greenwood
No single place dominates Greenwood’s commute
The biggest draw, Columbia, gets only 3% of working residents, and 60% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Greenwood residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Greenwood draws workers from far and wide
The 15,090 jobs in Greenwood are filled from a wide area. Greenwood’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 8%; the other 76% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Greenwood is where the jobs are
Greenwood has 15,090 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Greenwood are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Greenwood workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Greenwood’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
What’s behind Greenwood’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Greenwood is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #145 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Greenwood’s grade up (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,150, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Greenwood could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where Greenwood’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Greenwood clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workers
1% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Greenwood fills up on a workday
On a workday 6,239 residents head out to work, 2,485 work right here, and 12,605 people come in from elsewhere.
About 29,000 people are in Greenwood on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of South Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Greenwood workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,402 commuters (the 3% 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.
What the 15,090 jobs in Greenwood are
15,090 jobs are based in Greenwood. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Greenwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Greenwood, 2013 → 2023: 13,737 → 15,090. 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.
Half of Greenwood commutes less than 12 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 24% 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 Greenwood start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Greenwood is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #33 of 169 in South Carolina. Both inputs place Greenwood near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,665 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). 14.4% of Greenwood households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Greenwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Greenwood compares with U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Greenwood, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Five Forks SC | 18,656 | $142K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 694 | Hanahan SC | 22,415 | $88K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 743 | Simpsonville SC | 28,459 | $82K | 6.1% | 4.1% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,683 | Vicksburg MS | 19,830 | $46K | 26.8% | 5.9% | 42% | D |
| 1,684 | Danville IL | 28,138 | $46K | 24.5% | 8.3% | 40% | D |
| 1,685 | Greenwood SC | 22,745 | $41K | 21.6% | 8.7% | 28% | D |
| 1,686 | McAlester OK | 18,044 | $52K | 19.7% | 6.9% | 45% | D |
| 1,687 | Brawley CA | 28,008 | $59K | 21.3% | 15.5% | 26% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Greenwood: questions
What is the median household income in Greenwood?
$41,150 (±$1,937) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Greenwood?
21.6%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Greenwood?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Greenwood work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (3%, 73 mi), Greenville (3%, 46 mi), Abbeville (1%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Greenwood walkable?
Greenwood is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Greenwood without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Greenwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Greenwood
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.