Work & commute · Aiken

Work & commute in Aiken, SC

About one in 4 of Aiken’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Columbia (3%), North Augusta (2%) and Greenville (1%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

3,010 of 11,592 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,582 Aiken residents head out of town to work, 3,010 work right here, and 16,481 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Aiken.

8,582live here, work elsewhere

3,010live and work here

16,481work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Aiken goes to work

Aiken (in town)right here

26%3,010

Columbia59.1 mi away

3%326

North Augusta13.3 mi away

2%287

Greenville97.3 mi away

1%122

Beech Island11.9 mi away

1%95

North Charleston104.9 mi away

1%89

Martinez, GA21.7 mi away

1%76

Lexington43 mi away

1%64

Charleston112.4 mi away

0%53

New Ellenton8.1 mi away

0%45

Everywhere elseother towns and states

64%7,425

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Aiken commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

45%

23%

45%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Aiken is a job hub

1.68jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Aiken are

19,491 jobs are based in Aiken. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Aiken’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Aiken

19,491 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Aiken residents hold

11,592 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−23%

Jobs based in Aiken, 2013 → 2023: 25,313 → 19,491. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.