Households in Jackson earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 11.1%, next to 14.1% for South Carolina as a whole. Jackson grades C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 2% stay in Jackson for work; outside it, Augusta is the main destination (15%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jackson at work: what stands out
The four measures behind Jackson’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Jackson is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Jackson’s grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,634, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (3.2%) is left out: Jackson’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, Jackson could be anywhere from C− to B−.
How long Jackson spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 737 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.
The daily flow of workers through Jackson
On a workday 583 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 183 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Jackson on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.33 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.
The towns that employ Jackson’s residents
Where Jackson clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
73% of the jobs in Jackson pay over $3,333 a month
193 jobs are based in Jackson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 91 → 193. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Jackson to work
About 17% 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.
For most of Jackson, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.4% across South Carolina, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 775 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). 15.3% of Jackson households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 6,161 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,200, Jackson comes 3,875th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 284 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,873 | De Soto IL | 1,388 | $63K | 16.3% | 8.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,874 | Versailles PA | 1,406 | $43K | 20.1% | 8.3% | 2% | C |
| 3,875 | Jackson SC | 1,639 | $40K | 11.1% | 3.2% | 2% | C |
| 3,876 | Lamoine ME | 1,811 | $89K | 8.9% | 8.7% | 1% | C |
| 3,877 | Beaverton Township MI | 1,880 | $68K | 10.4% | 5.5% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,161 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Jackson, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$39,634 (±$10,518) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
11.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
21 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 Jackson work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Augusta (15%, 16 mi), Aiken (13%, 14 mi), North Augusta (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.