How Lamar works: jobs, income and commuting
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. Working from home is the commute for 20% of workers, against 12% across South Carolina. Only 3% work in Lamar itself; outside it, Florence draws the most (17%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lamar apart
Fewer jobs are based in Lamar than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lamar fell from 319 in 2013 to 227 in 2023, −29%. 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 ↓
Home offices are common in Lamar
20% of Lamar workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. 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 333 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Lamar’s 227 jobs
227 jobs are based in Lamar.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lamar, 2013 → 2023: 319 → 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 Lamar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Lamar
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lamar workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 370 commuters (the 20% 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 a workday changes Lamar
On a workday 322 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Lamar on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Out of Lamar to work: where people go
Where Lamar clocks in
17% of workers
7% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Lamar
About 29% 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.
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 Lamar: questions
What is the median household income in Lamar?
$38,864 (±$25,243) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lamar?
40.6%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lamar?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lamar work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Florence (17%, 16 mi), Darlington (7%, 14 mi), Hartsville (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lamar 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 Lamar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lamar
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.