Middleton Place · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0At 4.9%, unemployment in Summerville is higher than in 60% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 31 minutes on average, next to 26 for South Carolina and 26 for the U.S. The two grades for Summerville are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Measured by household income, Summerville is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Summerville: the figures worth knowing
Summerville 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 ↓
Summerville draws workers from far and wide
The 18,777 jobs in Summerville are filled from a wide area. Summerville’s own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 57% 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Summerville
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Summerville is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #49 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car holds Summerville’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Summerville could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The daily trip from Summerville: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Summerville workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,483 commuters (the 11% 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.
25% of working residents work in North Charleston
Where Summerville clocks in
25% of workers
14% 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 workday in Summerville: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 20,564 residents head out to work, 2,812 work right here, and 15,965 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 (0.80 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.
What Summerville’s employers do
18,777 jobs are based in Summerville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Summerville, 2013 → 2023: 14,298 → 18,777. 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 Summerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Summerville, by distance
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 Summerville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Summerville is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #79 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 26,299 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 4.6% of Summerville households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Summerville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Summerville next to U.S. towns of 37,000 to 72,000: 521st of 850 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Fort Mill SC | 38,673 | $122K | 4.8% | 2.3% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | Goose Creek SC | 52,010 | $88K | 6.5% | 2.7% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 355 | Greer SC | 50,007 | $83K | 10.1% | 2.4% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 519 | Revere MA | 60,141 | $87K | 11.5% | 7.0% | 7% | B |
| 520 | Everett MA | 53,572 | $85K | 14.7% | 5.5% | 7% | B |
| 521 | Summerville SC | 53,177 | $81K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 12% | B |
| 522 | Monterey Park CA | 57,457 | $82K | 12.4% | 6.1% | 9% | B |
| 523 | Post Falls ID | 46,715 | $82K | 11.1% | 3.3% | 22% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 850 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Summerville, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Summerville and its neighbors: 25% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Summerville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerville | – | B | B− | 31 min | $81,046 |
| Lincolnville | under 2% | C− | B | 37 min | $40,417 |
| North Charleston | 25% | B− | A− | 25 min | $62,956 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Charleston. Darker towns draw more of Summerville’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 Summerville: questions
What is the median household income in Summerville?
$81,046 (±$6,058) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Summerville?
10.1%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Summerville?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Summerville work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Charleston (25%, 9 mi), Charleston (14%, 17 mi), Mount Pleasant (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Summerville walkable?
Summerville is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Summerville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Summerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Summerville
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.