Watts Mills has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns. Employers in Watts Mills report 43 jobs; 718 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Watts Mills C; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Watts Mills in brief
Watts Mills is a place people come home to
There are 43 jobs based in Watts Mills, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Watts Mills has about 1,300 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Watts Mills than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Watts Mills fell from 358 in 2013 to 43 in 2023, −88%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Watts Mills workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Watts Mills’ 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; with 718 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Watts Mills gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Watts Mills is better than 34% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Watts Mills’ grade up (8.7%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($50,901, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (10.9%) is left out: Watts Mills’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Watts Mills could be anywhere from C− to B.
Who commutes out of Watts Mills, and who commutes in
On a workday 713 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Watts Mills on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 28% of the jobs in Watts Mills
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watts Mills, 2013 → 2023: 358 → 43. 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 Watts Mills’s own residents hold wherever they work.
9% of working residents work in Laurens
Where Watts Mills clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
About 27 minutes each way, about the SC average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watts Mills workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 856 commuters (the 2% 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.
Watts Mills’ commute, mile by mile
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Watts Mills start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Watts Mills is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Watts Mills near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 873 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). 16.9% of Watts Mills households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Watts Mills’ commuters take a bus or train.
2,979th of 5,234: where Watts Mills ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Pimlico SC | 1,765 | $137K | 4.8% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 277 | Sullivan's Island SC | 1,961 | $193K | 8.8% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 393 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,977 | Greene Township PA | 1,812 | $74K | 10.2% | 0.7% | 12% | C |
| 2,978 | Franklin Township PA | 2,272 | $57K | 10.9% | 8.5% | 5% | C |
| 2,979 | Watts Mills SC | 1,942 | $51K | 8.7% | 10.9% | 1% | C |
| 2,980 | Golden Meadow LA | 1,636 | $72K | 9.9% | 1.2% | 3% | C |
| 2,981 | Bartlett TX | 1,678 | $67K | 14.3% | 4.2% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,234 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Watts Mills, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Watts Mills and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Laurens (9%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Watts Mills workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watts Mills | – | C | C | 27 min | $50,901 |
| Laurens | 9% | C | C− | 21 min | $49,246 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Watts Mills’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 Watts Mills: questions
What is the median household income in Watts Mills?
$50,901 (±$6,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watts Mills?
8.7%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watts Mills?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watts Mills work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Laurens (9%, 2 mi), Greenville (6%, 31 mi), Spartanburg (3%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Watts Mills walkable?
Watts Mills is more walkable than 25% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Watts Mills without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watts Mills, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watts Mills
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.