Marsh-Johnson House · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Johnston have lower incomes than those in 98% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 32.7%, where South Carolina as a whole has 14.1%. For jobs and income Johnston is better than 7% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (D). Home is the office for 4% of workers, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Johnston, in a few figures
Johnston is a place people come home to
There are 227 jobs based in Johnston, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Johnston has about 1,600 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Johnston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Johnston fell from 362 in 2013 to 227 in 2023, −37%. 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 ↓
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 901 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Johnston
Job access by car holds Johnston’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($34,412, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (8.6%) is left out: Johnston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Johnston stays D.
Johnston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 875 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 201 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Johnston on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.25 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.
Jobs in Johnston: what the 227 are
227 jobs are based in Johnston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Johnston, 2013 → 2023: 362 → 227. 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 Johnston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
6% of working residents work in Aiken
Where Johnston clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Johnston takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Johnston workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 654 commuters (the 4% 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.
Half of Johnston commutes less than 22 miles
About 20% 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.
Johnston is a driving town
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 680 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). 16.7% of Johnston households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Johnston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Johnston and other U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 294 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 415 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,595 | Marlette MI | 1,833 | $49K | 18.0% | 10.3% | 20% | D |
| 4,596 | Mayville ND | 1,807 | $56K | 19.0% | 5.2% | 41% | D |
| 4,597 | Johnston SC | 2,233 | $34K | 32.7% | 8.6% | 3% | D |
| 4,598 | Friendship NY | 1,926 | $60K | 22.2% | 4.5% | 5% | D |
| 4,599 | New Albion NY | 1,925 | $61K | 23.0% | 9.7% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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 Johnston, 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 Johnston: questions
What is the median household income in Johnston?
$34,412 (±$12,067) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Johnston?
32.7%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Johnston?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Johnston work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aiken (6%, 21 mi), Edgefield (5%, 8 mi), Augusta (5%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Johnston walkable?
Johnston is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Johnston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Johnston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Johnston
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.