Photo: Bubba73 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Hampton earn less than those in 94% of U.S. towns
Hampton grades D− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 18.3% of residents (South Carolina 14.1%). About one in ten work in Hampton itself; outside it, Varnville draws the most (9%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Hampton
Hampton trades workers with the towns around it
Hampton has about as many jobs (1,238) as working residents (1,113), but they are mostly different people: 985 residents leave for work each day while 1,110 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Hampton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Hampton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hampton fell from 1,854 in 2013 to 1,238 in 2023, −33%. 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Hampton
On income, poverty and job access, Hampton is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #159 of 168 in South Carolina. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Hampton’s grade.
Unemployment (11.8%) is left out: Hampton’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, Hampton could be anywhere from D− to C−.
In and out of Hampton on a workday
On a workday 985 residents head out to work, 128 work right here, and 1,110 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 (1.11 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.
The 1,238 jobs based in Hampton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hampton, 2013 → 2023: 1,854 → 1,238. 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 Hampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Hampton goes to work
About 37% 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.
Out of Hampton to work: where people go
Where Hampton clocks in
4% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Hampton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hampton workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 814 commuters (the 5% 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.
In Hampton, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hampton is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #147 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 853 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). 10.7% of Hampton households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hampton and other U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 329 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 462 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,768 | Alturas CA | 2,634 | $60K | 18.0% | 11.9% | 56% | D− |
| 4,769 | Ellijay GA | 2,008 | $48K | 26.2% | 6.3% | 19% | D− |
| 4,770 | Hampton SC | 2,598 | $43K | 18.3% | 11.8% | 12% | D− |
| 4,771 | Adamsville TN | 2,081 | $51K | 28.6% | 4.8% | 9% | D− |
| 4,772 | Spooner WI | 2,531 | $45K | 21.6% | 9.9% | 25% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Hampton, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Work in the towns next to Hampton
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Varnville. Darker towns draw more of Hampton’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 Hampton: questions
What is the median household income in Hampton?
$43,472 (±$19,531) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hampton?
18.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hampton?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hampton work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Varnville (9%, 2 mi), Columbia (4%, 82 mi), North Charleston (4%, 61 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hampton walkable?
Hampton is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hampton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hampton
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.