Photo: Upstateherd · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.5%, unemployment in Ridgeland is lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
1% of workers work from home, next to 12% for South Carolina as a whole. The two grades for Ridgeland are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in ten work in Ridgeland itself; outside it, Hilton Head Island draws the most (11%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ridgeland at work: what stands out
Ridgeland is where the jobs are
Ridgeland has 1,998 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Few Ridgeland 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 ↓
Many jobs in Ridgeland pay little
28% of the jobs based in Ridgeland pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Ridgeland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ridgeland is Hilton Head Island, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (146) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Ridgeland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across South Carolina. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
Inside Ridgeland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridgeland is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #88 of 168 in South Carolina. Unemployment holds Ridgeland’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (26.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ridgeland could be anywhere from D to B.
Who leaves Ridgeland for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,181 residents head out to work, 118 work right here, and 1,880 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Ridgeland on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of South Carolina
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridgeland workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,315 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.
The 1,998 jobs based in Ridgeland
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridgeland, 2013 → 2023: 1,904 → 1,998. 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 Ridgeland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Ridgeland works
About 25% 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.
The towns that send workers to Ridgeland
Where Ridgeland clocks in
11% of workers
9% 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.
In Ridgeland, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridgeland is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #129 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 1,333 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). 18.1% of Ridgeland households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ridgeland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ridgeland is 3,008th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200 on jobs and income
| # | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 3,006 | Mount Plymouth FL | 4,604 | $90K | 19.9% | 9.7% | 2% | C |
| 3,007 | Burnham IL | 3,919 | $58K | 15.7% | 10.1% | 3% | C |
| 3,008 | Ridgeland SC | 3,818 | $63K | 26.8% | 2.5% | 9% | C |
| 3,009 | Oliver Springs TN | 3,433 | $51K | 17.0% | 4.6% | 3% | C |
| 3,010 | Bonny Doon CA | 3,149 | $145K | 16.2% | 8.0% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Ridgeland, 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 Ridgeland: questions
What is the median household income in Ridgeland?
$62,981 (±$22,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridgeland?
26.8%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridgeland?
31 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 Ridgeland work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hilton Head Island (11%, 22 mi), Bluffton (9%, 18 mi), Beaufort (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ridgeland walkable?
Ridgeland is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridgeland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridgeland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridgeland
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.