Liberty Colored High School · Photo: KudzuVine · Public domainHousehold incomes in Liberty are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Liberty; the top destination outside it is Greenville (11%, 19 miles). Below the poverty line: 21.5% of residents, next to 14.1% across South Carolina. The two grades for Liberty are C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Liberty
Liberty makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Liberty are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Liberty residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Liberty
55% of Liberty residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Liberty pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. 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.
Where Liberty’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Liberty is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #81 of 168 in South Carolina. Unemployment holds Liberty’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($42,206, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Liberty could be anywhere from C− to B.
A place that makes things: 38% of Liberty’s jobs are in goods
1,134 jobs are based in Liberty.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Liberty, 2013 → 2023: 882 → 1,134. 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 Liberty’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Liberty by day and by night
On a workday 1,572 residents head out to work, 57 work right here, and 1,077 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Liberty on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
Where Liberty goes to work
Where Liberty clocks in
11% 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 Liberty takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Liberty workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,264 commuters (the 7% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Liberty
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.
Getting around Liberty: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Liberty is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #156 of 169 in South Carolina. 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 1,356 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.4% of Liberty households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Liberty’s commuters take a bus or train.
Liberty is 2,910th of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 524 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,908 | Gaylord MI | 4,444 | $45K | 8.0% | 3.1% | 34% | C+ |
| 2,909 | Wells MN | 2,395 | $60K | 8.7% | 3.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,910 | Liberty SC | 3,344 | $42K | 21.5% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,911 | Bowdoinham ME | 3,210 | $108K | 13.5% | 13.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,912 | West Hill OH | 2,425 | $40K | 14.5% | 3.7% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Liberty, 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 Liberty: questions
What is the median household income in Liberty?
$42,206 (±$9,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Liberty?
21.5%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Liberty?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Liberty work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (11%, 19 mi), Easley (7%, 6 mi), Clemson (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Liberty walkable?
Liberty is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Liberty without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Liberty, from the people who make the trip.
More of Liberty
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.