Nathaniel Gist House · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Monarch Mill’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 21.0% of residents, next to 14.1% across South Carolina. For jobs and income Monarch Mill is better than 6% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (D). 1% of workers have no commute at all, next to 12% for South Carolina as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Monarch Mill: the figures worth knowing
Monarch Mill is a place people come home to
There are 107 jobs based in Monarch Mill, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Monarch Mill has about 1,300 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Monarch Mill and Union trade workers both ways
Union is the top workplace for Monarch Mill residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Monarch Mill come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Monarch Mill workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 633 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Monarch Mill’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Monarch Mill’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,350, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (9.6%) is left out: Monarch Mill’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, Monarch Mill could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The daily flow of workers through Monarch Mill
On a workday 627 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 101 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Monarch Mill on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
18% of working residents work in Union
Where Monarch Mill clocks in
10% of workers
3% 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.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Monarch Mill
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Monarch Mill workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 571 commuters (the 1% 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.
What Monarch Mill’s employers do
107 jobs are based in Monarch Mill.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Monarch Mill, 2013 → 2023: 188 → 107. 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 Monarch Mill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Monarch Mill’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Few in Monarch Mill walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 576 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). 0.7% of Monarch Mill households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Monarch Mill’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Monarch Mill ranks: 5,055th of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 285 | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 410 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,053 | Union Township MO | 2,179 | $54K | 17.2% | 3.9% | 13% | D |
| 5,054 | Texas Township PA | 2,273 | $42K | 20.2% | 4.6% | 11% | D |
| 5,055 | Monarch Mill SC | 1,822 | $39K | 21.0% | 9.6% | 1% | D |
| 5,056 | Trenton FL | 2,296 | $49K | 18.8% | 4.9% | 14% | D |
| 5,057 | Oswego KS | 1,621 | $54K | 22.8% | 9.9% | 25% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | 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 Monarch Mill, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Monarch Mill and its neighbors: 18% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Monarch Mill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monarch Mill | – | D | D | 27 min | $39,350 |
| Union | 18% | D− | B− | 26 min | $31,914 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Union. Darker towns draw more of Monarch Mill’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 Monarch Mill: questions
What is the median household income in Monarch Mill?
$39,350 (±$4,614) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Monarch Mill?
21.0%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Monarch Mill?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Monarch Mill work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union (18%, 2 mi), Spartanburg (10%, 25 mi), Charlotte (3%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Monarch Mill walkable?
Monarch Mill is more walkable than 11% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Monarch Mill without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Monarch Mill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Monarch Mill
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.