Woodside Cotton Mill Village Historic District · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and the daily commute in Wade Hampton
Wade Hampton grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 5% work in Wade Hampton itself; outside it, Greenville draws the most (33%, 4 miles). Commuters spend 20 minutes getting to work on average, where South Carolina has 26 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Wade Hampton
Wade Hampton draws workers from far and wide
The 10,783 jobs in Wade Hampton are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 23%; the other 73% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Wade Hampton residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
One in three of Wade Hampton works in Greenville
2,917 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Greenville, 3.6 miles away across the town line. That’s 7 times as many as work in Wade Hampton itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Wade Hampton are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across South Carolina. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical South Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Wade Hampton
59% of Wade Hampton residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Wade Hampton pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. 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.
Where Wade Hampton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wade Hampton is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #25 of 168 in South Carolina. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($77,449, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wade Hampton could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where the trip to work from Wade Hampton ends
Where Wade Hampton clocks in
33% of workers
3% 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.
Wade Hampton’s commute, mile by mile
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.
About 20 minutes to work from Wade Hampton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wade Hampton workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,834 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.
Inside Wade Hampton’s 10,783 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wade Hampton, 2013 → 2023: 10,280 → 10,783. 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 Wade Hampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Wade Hampton: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 8,444 residents head out to work, 480 work right here, and 10,303 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 (1.21 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.
Getting around Wade Hampton: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wade Hampton is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #31 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 10,303 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 3.4% of Wade Hampton households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wade Hampton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Wade Hampton is 778th of 1,705 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | 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 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Five Forks SC | 18,656 | $142K | 2.5% | 3.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 681 | Hanahan SC | 22,415 | $88K | 11.7% | 2.5% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 735 | North Augusta SC | 26,982 | $86K | 6.6% | 3.8% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 776 | Cedar Mill OR | 19,471 | $164K | 8.1% | 7.8% | 3% | B+ |
| 777 | Highland Township MI | 20,319 | $97K | 8.3% | 4.3% | 9% | B+ |
| 778 | Wade Hampton SC | 20,898 | $77K | 7.2% | 4.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 779 | Palisades Park NJ | 20,317 | $95K | 9.4% | 5.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 780 | Moncks Corner SC | 20,612 | $92K | 8.3% | 3.6% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | 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 Wade Hampton, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Work next door: 34% of Wade Hampton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wade Hampton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Hampton | – | B+ | B+ | 20 min | $77,449 |
| Greenville | 33% | B− | A | 19 min | $71,472 |
| Taylors | 1% | B | C | 22 min | $77,144 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Greenville. Darker towns draw more of Wade Hampton’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 Wade Hampton: questions
What is the median household income in Wade Hampton?
$77,449 (±$5,222) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wade Hampton?
7.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wade Hampton?
20 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 Wade Hampton work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (33%, 4 mi), Mauldin (3%, 7 mi), Greer (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wade Hampton walkable?
Wade Hampton is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wade Hampton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wade Hampton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wade Hampton
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.