Work and commuting in Helena
Working residents average 16 minutes each way, next to 26 for South Carolina and 26 for the U.S. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers, where South Carolina as a whole has 12%. 303 jobs are based in Helena for 418 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Helena, in brief
Helena makes and builds things
73% of the jobs based in Helena are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Helena residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 39%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Helena are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Helena workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 418 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
A place that makes things: 73% of Helena’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Helena, 2013 → 2023: 214 → 303. 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 Helena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 16 minutes to work from Helena
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Helena workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 283 commuters (the 0% 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.
Who leaves Helena for work, and who comes in
On a workday 412 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 297 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Helena on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.72 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
13% of working residents work in Newberry
Where Helena clocks in
13% of workers
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.
How far it is to work from Helena
About 25% 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.
13% of Helena works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Newberry. Darker towns draw more of Helena’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 Helena: questions
What is the median household income in Helena?
$38,651 (±$18,336) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Helena?
24.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Helena?
16 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Helena work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newberry (13%, 2 mi), Columbia (4%, 46 mi), Greenwood (2%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Helena without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Helena, from the people who make the trip.
More of Helena
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.