Household incomes in Southern Shops are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 43.3%; South Carolina has 14.1%. Southern Shops grades D for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Home is the office for <1% of workers, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Southern Shops in brief
Southern Shops fills up on a workday
Southern Shops has 5,920 jobs, 4.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,400 people are in town, more than double the 3,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Southern Shops draws workers from far and wide
The 5,920 jobs in Southern Shops are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 17%; the other 81% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
The jobs in Southern Shops pay better than its residents’ jobs
69% of the jobs based in Southern Shops pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 45% of the jobs Southern Shops residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Southern Shops. The jobs ↓
Southern Shops makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Southern Shops are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Southern Shops residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
Few Southern Shops workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Southern Shops’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Southern Shops is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #130 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Southern Shops’ grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Southern Shops could be anywhere from D to C.
A workday in Southern Shops: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,240 residents head out to work, 92 work right here, and 5,828 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,400 people are in Southern Shops on a workday afternoon, 121% more than live here.
4.4 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.
Who travels to work in Southern Shops, and from where
Where Southern Shops clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
A place that makes things: 43% of Southern Shops’ jobs are in goods
5,920 jobs are based in Southern Shops.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southern Shops, 2013 → 2023: 6,832 → 5,920. 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 Southern Shops’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Southern Shops: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southern Shops workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,741 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.
How many miles Southern Shops commutes
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.
In Southern Shops, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southern Shops is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns, #142 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 1,743 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). 6.3% of Southern Shops households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Southern Shops’ commuters take a bus or train.
3,654th of 4,153: where Southern Shops ranks among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 498 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,652 | Baraga Township MI | 3,382 | $52K | 16.5% | 4.3% | 44% | D |
| 3,653 | Franklinville NY | 2,715 | $64K | 16.2% | 5.9% | 13% | D |
| 3,654 | Southern Shops SC | 3,797 | $38K | 43.3% | 8.0% | 7% | D |
| 3,655 | South Tucson AZ | 4,452 | $34K | 30.4% | 10.6% | 3% | D |
| 3,656 | Lincoln Heights OH | 3,151 | $27K | 40.6% | 19.1% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | 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 Southern Shops, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Southern Shops and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Valley Falls (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Southern Shops workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Shops | – | D | C− | 22 min | $37,754 |
| Valley Falls | 2% | C+ | B− | 22 min | $55,661 |
| Arcadia | under 2% | C− | C+ | 21 min | $55,218 |
| Hilltop | 2% | C+ | C+ | 27 min | $37,444 |
| Saxon | under 2% | D | B+ | 16 min | $32,292 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Southern Shops’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 Southern Shops: questions
What is the median household income in Southern Shops?
$37,754 (±$8,845) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southern Shops?
43.3%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southern Shops?
22 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 Southern Shops work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spartanburg (12%, 4 mi), Greenville (7%, 23 mi), Boiling Springs (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Southern Shops walkable?
Southern Shops is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southern Shops without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southern Shops, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southern Shops
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.