Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Mullins are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Mullins D−; getting around on foot earns it C. The poverty rate is 38.3% (South Carolina 14.1%). About one in ten work in Mullins itself; outside it, Marion draws the most (11%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Mullins, in brief
Mullins trades workers with the towns around it
Mullins has about as many jobs (1,289) as working residents (1,385), but they are mostly different people: 1,234 residents leave for work each day while 1,138 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Mullins are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Mullins workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Mullins workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Mullins’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
The four measures behind Mullins’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mullins is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #167 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Mullins’ grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mullins could be anywhere from D− to D.
Mullins on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,234 residents head out to work, 151 work right here, and 1,138 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Mullins spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mullins workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,286 commuters (the 6% 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 Mullins’ employers do
1,289 jobs are based in Mullins.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mullins, 2013 → 2023: 1,019 → 1,289. 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 Mullins’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Mullins’ residents
Where Mullins clocks in
11% of workers
9% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Mullins
About 28% 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.
Most trips from Mullins start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mullins is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns, #140 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 1,369 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). 16.4% of Mullins households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mullins’ commuters take a bus or train.
Mullins next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 514 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,168 | Pelham GA | 3,359 | $39K | 22.9% | 10.5% | 11% | D− |
| 4,169 | Butler MO | 4,317 | $42K | 24.7% | 10.1% | 30% | D− |
| 4,170 | Mullins SC | 3,838 | $35K | 38.3% | 10.1% | 11% | D− |
| 4,171 | Cheraw SC | 4,921 | $27K | 37.0% | 11.8% | 30% | D− |
| 4,172 | Camilla GA | 4,988 | $38K | 38.0% | 10.9% | 34% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Mullins, 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 Mullins: questions
What is the median household income in Mullins?
$34,908 (±$15,760) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mullins?
38.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mullins?
35 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mullins work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marion (11%, 8 mi), Florence (9%, 31 mi), Columbia (3%, 95 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mullins walkable?
Mullins is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mullins without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mullins, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mullins
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.