New Hope Farm · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Wellford has lower unemployment (0.4%) than 98% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Wellford B; getting around on foot earns it D. 4% of workers have no commute at all, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Wellford: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Wellford than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Wellford fell from 1,323 in 2013 to 879 in 2023, −34%. 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 ↓
Few Wellford workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 12% across South Carolina. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Wellford’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wellford is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #50 of 168 in South Carolina. Unemployment holds Wellford’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($57,338, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wellford could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Jobs in Wellford: what the 879 are
879 jobs are based in Wellford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellford, 2013 → 2023: 1,323 → 879. 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 Wellford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Wellford: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellford workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,121 commuters (the 4% 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 commutes out of Wellford, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,697 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 862 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Wellford on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.51 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
10% of working residents work in Greenville
Where Wellford clocks in
10% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
Where in the region Wellford works
About 15% 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.
For most of Wellford, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wellford is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns, #164 of 169 in South Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,166 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). 10.7% of Wellford households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wellford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300, Wellford ranks 1,906th of 4,364 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | India Hook SC | 3,960 | $107K | 1.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 526 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,904 | Bowling Township IL | 3,366 | $101K | 5.8% | 12.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,905 | Avon NY | 3,434 | $72K | 8.1% | 4.6% | 14% | B |
| 1,906 | Wellford SC | 3,914 | $57K | 16.2% | 0.4% | 1% | B |
| 1,907 | Bonus Township IL | 4,390 | $101K | 10.5% | 6.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,908 | Bourbon Township IN | 2,825 | $76K | 7.8% | 3.6% | 14% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Wellford, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
Around Wellford: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Duncan (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Wellford’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 Wellford: questions
What is the median household income in Wellford?
$57,338 (±$5,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellford?
16.2%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellford?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wellford work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Greenville (10%, 16 mi), Spartanburg (8%, 10 mi), Greer (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wellford walkable?
Wellford is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wellford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellford
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.