Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0St. Andrews’ household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn St. Andrews C−; getting around on foot earns it A−. 25.4% of residents live below the poverty line; South Carolina has 14.1%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 9.4 in Columbia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set St. Andrews apart
St. Andrews trades workers with the towns around it
St. Andrews has about as many jobs (7,820) as working residents (8,525), but they are mostly different people: 8,253 residents leave for work each day while 7,548 people come in. Only 3% of the jobs in St. Andrews are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
St. Andrews draws workers from far and wide
The 7,820 jobs in St. Andrews are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 19%; the other 78% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
A lot of St. Andrews works one town over
35% of working residents work in a town that borders St. Andrews: Columbia (31%) and Seven Oaks (4%). Next door ↓
Most St. Andrews residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Fewer than half of St. Andrews workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of St. Andrews’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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.
What’s behind St. Andrews’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Andrews is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #114 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds St. Andrews’ grade up (ahead of 84% 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, St. Andrews could be anywhere from D to C+.
In and out of St. Andrews on a workday
On a workday 8,253 residents head out to work, 272 work right here, and 7,548 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 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.
31% of working residents work in Columbia
Where St. Andrews clocks in
31% of workers
4% 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.
St. Andrews’ commute, mile by mile
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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
7,820 jobs are based in St. Andrews.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Andrews, 2013 → 2023: 6,037 → 7,820. 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 St. Andrews’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from St. Andrews
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Andrews workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,546 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: St. Andrews
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Andrews is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #24 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% of 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 9,737 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 11.2% of St. Andrews households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of St. Andrews’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,860 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000, St. Andrews comes 1,662nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Tega Cay SC | 14,457 | $142K | 1.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Five Forks SC | 18,656 | $142K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 738 | Hanahan SC | 22,415 | $88K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,660 | Lemon Hill CA | 15,312 | $49K | 32.0% | 8.7% | 2% | C− |
| 1,661 | Athens TN | 15,263 | $54K | 17.0% | 6.2% | 33% | C− |
| 1,662 | St. Andrews SC | 19,868 | $47K | 25.4% | 7.2% | 3% | C− |
| 1,663 | The Dalles OR | 15,745 | $63K | 11.0% | 7.7% | 41% | C− |
| 1,664 | Rosamond CA | 21,473 | $79K | 17.1% | 9.1% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 St. Andrews, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Bordering towns draw 35% of St. Andrews’ workers
The biggest share goes to Columbia (31%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Andrews workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Andrews | – | C− | A− | 22 min | $46,511 |
| Columbia | 31% | C− | A+ | 18 min | $55,529 |
| Seven Oaks | 4% | C+ | B | 20 min | $62,955 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Andrews’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 St. Andrews: questions
What is the median household income in St. Andrews?
$46,511 (±$5,624) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Andrews?
25.4%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Andrews?
22 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 St. Andrews work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (31%, 12 mi), Seven Oaks (4%, 2 mi), West Columbia (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Andrews walkable?
St. Andrews is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Andrews without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Andrews, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Andrews
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.