Photo: Evanoco · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Ridge Spring commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Only 3% work in Ridge Spring itself; outside it, Batesburg-Leesville draws the most (5%, 9 miles). 130 jobs are based in Ridge Spring; 246 of its residents have a job. The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Ridge Spring, and who commutes in
On a workday 238 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 122 people come in from elsewhere.
About 480 people are in Ridge Spring on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
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 towns that employ Ridge Spring’s residents
Where Ridge Spring clocks in
5% 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.
The kinds of work in Ridge Spring
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridge Spring, 2013 → 2023: 229 → 130. 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 Ridge Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Ridge Spring: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridge Spring workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 298 commuters (the 9% 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.
Miles to work from Ridge Spring
About 22% 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.
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 Ridge Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Ridge Spring?
$39,167 (±$21,186) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridge Spring?
24.8%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridge Spring?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridge Spring work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Batesburg-Leesville (5%, 9 mi), Augusta (4%, 41 mi), Aiken (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Ridge Spring without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridge Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridge Spring
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.