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Jobs & commute in Olympia

Jobs, income and commuting in Olympia, SC

Working residents average 26 minutes each way (South Carolina 26, U.S. 26). Home is the office for 0% of workers, where South Carolina as a whole has 12%. Hardly any work in Olympia; the top destination outside it is Columbia (26%, 9 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

211 jobs based here
Household income
$30K
median · South Carolina $69K
Poverty
77.1%
South Carolina 14.1%
Unemployment
6.1%
South Carolina 4.9% · U.S. 5.2%
Time each way
26 min
South Carolina 26 · U.S. 26
Work in town
0%
0 of 176 working residents
Work from home
0%
South Carolina 12% · U.S. 15%
Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 176 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.

176live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
211work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night940
Workday970
940live here− 180head out to work+ 210come in to work= 970on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.20jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (1.20 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.

The commute map

Commuting out of Olympia: the destinations

Charlotte: 3 residents work here (2%)Lancaster: 2 residents work here (1%)West Columbia: 2 residents work here (1%)HanahanMauldinLexington: 3 residents work here (2%)Cayce: 9 residents work here (5%)Greenville: 6 residents work here (3%)SumterNorth Charleston: 5 residents work here (3%)Charleston: 6 residents work here (3%)Columbia: 46 residents work here (26%)OlympiaWhite KnollSeven Oaks: 4 residents work here (2%)Oak GroveRed HillColumbiaCayceGreenvilleCharlestonNorth CharlestonSeven OaksOlympia
1
Columbia9.1 mi away
26%46
2
Cayce1.6 mi away
5%9
3
Greenville96.3 mi away
3%6
4
Charleston100.1 mi away
3%6
5
North Charleston92 mi away
3%5
6
Seven Oaks7.8 mi away
2%4
7
Charlotte, NC86.1 mi away
2%3
8
Lexington10.7 mi away
2%3
9
Lancaster53.9 mi away
1%2
10
West Columbia3.8 mi away
1%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
51%90
The top trips

Where Olympia clocks in

26% of workers
9.1 mi awayColumbia46 Olympia residents work here · Jobs & commute →
5% of workers
1.6 mi awayCayce9 Olympia residents work here · Jobs & commute →
3% of workers
96.3 mi awayGreenville6 Olympia residents work here · Jobs & commute →

Lines 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.

The jobs

In Olympia, 28% of jobs are in factories, building or farming

211 jobs are based in Olympia.

Jobs based in OlympiaJobs Olympia residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms28%10%
Trade, transport & utilities63%24%
Services: health, schools, offices9%66%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less3%26%
$1,251–$3,333 a month18%25%
Over $3,333 a month80%49%

Who does it

29 or younger16%45%
30 to 5459%40%
55 and older25%15%
−61%

Jobs based in Olympia, 2013 → 2023: 547 → 211. 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 Olympia’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Olympia’s commute takes about 26 minutes

A year of commuting
200 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Olympia26 min
South Carolina26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

of Olympia workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Olympia gets to work
66%Drive alone
17%Carpool
14%Walk
3%Other

Share of the 462 commuters (the 0% 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 far

How far it is to work from Olympia

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miColumbia: 26% · 9.1 miCayce: 5% · 1.6 miGreenville: 3% · 96.3 miCharleston: 3% · 100.1 miNorth Charleston: 3% · 92 miSeven Oaks: 2% · 7.8 miCharlotte: 2% · 86.1 miLexington: 2% · 10.7 miLancaster: 1% · 53.9 miWest Columbia: 1% · 3.8 miColumbia 26%Cayce 5%Greenville 3%Charleston 3%North Charleston 3%Olympia
OlympiaTop destinations (size = commuters)
43%Under 10 mi75 residents
10%10–24 mi18 residents
6%25–50 mi11 residents
41%Over 50 mi71 residents

About 41% 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.

Next door

Olympia and its neighbors: 31% work next door

Columbia: 26% of workers work hereCayce: 5% of workers work hereColumbiaCayceOlympia
10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Columbia18 min
Cayce20 min
Olympia26 min
Columbia26% of Olympia works hereCayce5% of Olympia works here

Jobs & commute next door

TownOlympia workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Olympia–——26 min$29,663
Columbia26%C−A+18 min$55,529
Cayce5%C+B−20 min$62,045

Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.

The biggest share goes to Columbia. Darker towns draw more of Olympia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Olympia: questions

What is the median household income in Olympia?

$29,663 (±$9,440) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Olympia?

77.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Olympia?

26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Olympia work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (26%, 9 mi), Cayce (5%, 2 mi), Greenville (3%, 96 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Olympia without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Olympia, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Olympia

Olympia home →
26min commute
HandbookGetting around OlympiaRoads, buses, parking and the basics
shortest commutes
RankingsTop towns in SCShortest commutes, work from home & more

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.