Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Swansea
Commuters spend 31 minutes getting to work on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. Only 4% work in Swansea; the top destination outside it is Columbia (15%, 24 miles). Swansea has 364 jobs, against 308 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Swansea and work: the main findings
Swansea’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Swansea is Columbia, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (45) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Swansea 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 308 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Swansea
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Each way, about 31 minutes from Swansea
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swansea workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 233 commuters (the 14% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 296 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 352 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 (1.18 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Swansea: the destinations
Where Swansea clocks in
15% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Swansea
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swansea, 2014 → 2024: 378 → 364. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Swansea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Work in the towns next to Swansea
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Swansea’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 2024, 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 Swansea: questions
What is the median household income in Swansea?
$58,250 (±$29,017) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swansea?
27.4%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swansea?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swansea work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (15%, 24 mi), Cayce (5%, 15 mi), Lexington (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Swansea without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swansea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swansea
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.