Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Pine Ridge have higher incomes than those in 73% of U.S. towns
Pine Ridge grades A− for jobs and income and D− for walkability. Poverty touches 7.3% of residents, where South Carolina as a whole has 14.1%. Only 1% work in Pine Ridge itself; outside it, Columbia draws the most (19%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Pine Ridge
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Pine Ridge
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pine Ridge is better than 81% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Pine Ridge’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pine Ridge could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Getting to work from Pine Ridge takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pine Ridge workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,107 commuters (the 10% 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.
Pine Ridge quiets down on a workday
On a workday 824 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 557 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Pine Ridge on a workday afternoon, 11% 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 Pine Ridge to work: where people go
Where Pine Ridge clocks in
19% 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.
The 567 jobs based in Pine Ridge
567 jobs are based in Pine Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pine Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 274 → 567. 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 Pine Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Pine Ridge
About 18% 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 Pine Ridge start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pine Ridge is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Pine Ridge near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,230 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% 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). 1.5% of Pine Ridge households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pine Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pine Ridge is 761st of 5,552 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 327 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 332 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 461 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 759 | Williamsburg MA | 2,445 | $105K | 2.3% | 3.7% | 6% | A− |
| 760 | East Kingston NH | 2,434 | $138K | 14.3% | 1.1% | 4% | A− |
| 761 | Pine Ridge SC | 2,346 | $95K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| 762 | Millwood WA | 1,825 | $83K | 9.5% | 0.7% | 2% | A− |
| 763 | Hebron Township IL | 2,338 | $106K | 6.2% | 3.3% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Pine Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Around Pine Ridge: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Cayce (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pine Ridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Ridge | – | A− | D− | 20 min | $95,000 |
| South Congaree | under 2% | C+ | D | 28 min | $59,539 |
| Cayce | 6% | C+ | B− | 20 min | $62,045 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pine Ridge’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 Pine Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Pine Ridge?
$95,000 (±$12,917) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pine Ridge?
7.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pine Ridge?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pine Ridge work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (19%, 15 mi), West Columbia (7%, 6 mi), Lexington (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pine Ridge walkable?
Pine Ridge is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pine Ridge 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 Pine Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pine Ridge
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.