Jacob Wingard Dreher House · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Irmo has higher unemployment (8.4%) than 90% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, where South Carolina has 26 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Irmo B−; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 5% stay in Irmo for work; outside it, Columbia is the main destination (29%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Irmo
Irmo draws workers from far and wide
The 6,865 jobs in Irmo are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 22%; the other 74% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of Irmo works one town over
33% of working residents work in a town that borders Irmo: Columbia (29%) and Seven Oaks (4%). Next door ↓
Irmo has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Irmo went from 4,868 in 2013 to 6,865 in 2023, +41%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Irmo’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Irmo is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #59 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Irmo’s grade up (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Irmo could be anywhere from C to A−.
The towns that employ Irmo’s residents
Where Irmo clocks in
29% of workers
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.
The 6,865 jobs based in Irmo
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Irmo, 2013 → 2023: 4,868 → 6,865. 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 Irmo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Irmo
On a workday 5,173 residents head out to work, 248 work right here, and 6,617 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Irmo on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Irmo
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Irmo workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,984 commuters (the 15% 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.
How far it is to work from Irmo
About 16% 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.
Driving is how Irmo gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Irmo is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #60 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of 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 5,837 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 5% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 3% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 7.1% of Irmo households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Irmo’s commuters take a bus or train.
Irmo is 1,310th of 2,151 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 16,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Tega Cay SC | 14,457 | $142K | 1.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | James Island SC | 12,660 | $104K | 5.6% | 1.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 664 | Powdersville SC | 10,771 | $85K | 9.3% | 1.7% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,308 | Lakewood Park FL | 13,866 | $64K | 9.4% | 3.4% | 3% | B− |
| 1,309 | Fairview OR | 10,762 | $70K | 17.5% | 4.1% | 2% | B− |
| 1,310 | Irmo SC | 12,204 | $80K | 9.2% | 8.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,311 | Lake Arrowhead CA | 10,639 | $95K | 11.1% | 3.9% | 17% | B− |
| 1,312 | Waseca MN | 9,035 | $64K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 34% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,151 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Irmo, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
33% of Irmo works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Irmo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irmo | – | B− | B | 24 min | $80,489 |
| Lake Murray of Richland | under 2% | A+ | C− | 37 min | $119,107 |
| Columbia | 29% | C− | A+ | 18 min | $55,529 |
| Seven Oaks | 4% | C+ | B | 20 min | $62,955 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Columbia. Darker towns draw more of Irmo’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 Irmo: questions
What is the median household income in Irmo?
$80,489 (±$17,507) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Irmo?
9.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Irmo?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Irmo work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (29%, 18 mi), Seven Oaks (4%, 5 mi), Lexington (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Irmo walkable?
Irmo is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Irmo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 3% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Irmo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Irmo
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.