Ashley-Willis House · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Williston trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, where South Carolina as a whole has 12%. 30.5% of residents live below the poverty line (South Carolina 14.1%). The two grades for Williston are D− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Williston: the figures worth knowing
Many jobs in Williston pay little
30% of the jobs based in Williston pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Few Williston workers work from home
Only 1% 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.
Jobs & income in Williston: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Williston is better than 3% of U.S. towns, #164 of 168 in South Carolina. Unemployment holds Williston’s grade up (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williston could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Inside Williston’s 662 jobs
662 jobs are based in Williston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williston, 2013 → 2023: 834 → 662. 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 Williston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Williston: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williston workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,276 commuters (the 1% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Williston
On a workday 1,112 residents head out to work, 124 work right here, and 538 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Williston on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
11% of working residents work in Aiken
Where Williston clocks in
11% 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 distance from Williston to work
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.
Getting around Williston: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Williston is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #55 of 169 in South Carolina. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.4% across South Carolina, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,289 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). 10.2% of Williston households have no vehicle (South Carolina 5.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Williston’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900, and where Williston sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 490 | Folly Beach SC | 2,081 | $102K | 4.0% | 2.1% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 502 | Golden Grove SC | 2,913 | $73K | 3.1% | 1.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 668 | Keowee Key SC | 3,351 | $125K | 2.1% | 2.6% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,715 | Watonga OK | 2,594 | $54K | 19.2% | 13.5% | 21% | D− |
| 4,716 | Heavener OK | 3,070 | $34K | 33.0% | 6.0% | 28% | D− |
| 4,717 | Williston SC | 2,898 | $39K | 30.5% | 6.5% | 10% | D− |
| 4,718 | Center Township OH | 3,362 | $49K | 19.4% | 9.0% | 29% | D− |
| 4,719 | Scott Township OH | 2,300 | $53K | 22.5% | 2.5% | 12% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Williston, the top three, the last and three more from South Carolina.
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 Williston: questions
What is the median household income in Williston?
$39,484 (±$7,641) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williston?
30.5%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williston?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williston work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aiken (11%, 20 mi), Barnwell (5%, 12 mi), Columbia (4%, 53 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Williston walkable?
Williston is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williston without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williston
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.