Photo: Hashtag youre it · CC BY-SA 4.0Rock Hill has higher unemployment (5.8%) than 72% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 25 minutes each way (South Carolina 26, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Rock Hill B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in four stay in Rock Hill for work; outside it, Charlotte is the main destination (20%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rock Hill apart
A lot of Rock Hill workers cross into North Carolina
25% of Rock Hill workers work outside South Carolina, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Charlotte (20%), Pineville (1%) and Gastonia (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Rock Hill draws workers from far and wide
The 41,912 jobs in Rock Hill are filled from a wide area. Rock Hill’s own residents hold 24% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Rock Hill gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rock Hill is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #67 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Rock Hill’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rock Hill could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Commuting out of Rock Hill: the destinations
Where Rock Hill clocks in
20% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
How many people are in Rock Hill by day
On a workday 24,175 residents head out to work, 9,888 work right here, and 32,024 people come in from elsewhere.
About 84,000 people are in Rock Hill on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 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 41,912 jobs based in Rock Hill
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rock Hill, 2013 → 2023: 34,311 → 41,912. 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 Rock Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes to work from Rock Hill
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rock Hill workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 33,946 commuters (the 12% 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 commute from Rock Hill, by distance
About 20% 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.
Few in Rock Hill walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rock Hill is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #28 of 169 in South Carolina. Both inputs place Rock Hill 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 38,387 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 6% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 6.9% of Rock Hill households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Rock Hill’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rock Hill next to U.S. towns of 53,000 to 102,000: 420th of 587 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Mount Pleasant SC | 95,469 | $125K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 27% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Summerville SC | 53,177 | $81K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | Greenville SC | 75,310 | $71K | 14.0% | 4.4% | 38% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 418 | Hawthorne CA | 82,741 | $76K | 15.5% | 7.9% | 6% | B− |
| 419 | Flagstaff AZ | 77,260 | $72K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 62% | B− |
| 420 | Rock Hill SC | 75,911 | $69K | 12.6% | 5.8% | 29% | B− |
| 421 | Davenport IA | 100,358 | $66K | 15.2% | 4.6% | 47% | B− |
| 422 | Casper WY | 58,771 | $70K | 10.8% | 4.1% | 60% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Rock Hill, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Rock Hill and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rock Hill workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Hill | – | B− | B+ | 25 min | $68,771 |
| Newport | under 1% | A− | C | 24 min | $110,417 |
| India Hook | under 1% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $106,667 |
| Lesslie | under 1% | A− | B− | 27 min | $100,618 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rock Hill’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 Rock Hill: questions
What is the median household income in Rock Hill?
$68,771 (±$3,245) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rock Hill?
12.6%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rock Hill?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rock Hill work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (20%, 22 mi), Fort Mill (4%, 7 mi), Columbia (2%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rock Hill walkable?
Rock Hill is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rock Hill without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rock Hill, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rock Hill
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.