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Work & commute in Bowman · A commuter town

99% of Bowman’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Bowman for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are North Charleston (9%), Orangeburg (6%) and Charleston (3%). Half commute less than 44 miles.

Work in town
1%
4 of 324 working residents
Typical commute
44 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
More than SC (26 min)
Work from home
10%
Less than SC (12%)
Jobs based here
42
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Bowman?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

9% of working residents work in North Charleston

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

ElloreeBowmanReevesvilleSt. GeorgeWalterboroLancasterOrangeburg: 20 residents work here (6%)Lexington: 5 residents work here (2%)Summerville: 8 residents work here (2%)FlorenceGoose Creek: 6 residents work here (2%)Sumter: 7 residents work here (2%)North Charleston: 30 residents work here (9%)Charleston: 10 residents work here (3%)Columbia: 8 residents work here (2%)Wilkinson Heights: 6 residents work here (2%)North CharlestonOrangeburgCharlestonSummervilleColumbiaSumterBowman
1
North Charleston46.6 mi away
9%30
2
Orangeburg14.5 mi away
6%20
3
Charleston54.7 mi away
3%10
4
Summerville37.7 mi away
2%8
5
Columbia49.4 mi away
2%8
6
Sumter44.2 mi away
2%7
7
Goose Creek46 mi away
2%6
8
Wilkinson Heights12.9 mi away
2%6
9
Lexington54.2 mi away
2%5
10
Bowman (in town)right here
1%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
68%220
The top trips

Where Bowman clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of South Carolina

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
245 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Bowman32 min
South Carolina26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
10%

of Bowman workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Bowman quiets down on a workday

On a workday 320 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.

320live here, work elsewhere
4live and work here
38work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night690
Workday410
690live here− 320head out to work+ 38come in to work= 410on a workday

About 410 people are in Bowman on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.13jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.13 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.

How far

Half of Bowman commutes less than 44 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi65 miNorth Charleston: 9% · 46.6 miOrangeburg: 6% · 14.5 miCharleston: 3% · 54.7 miSummerville: 2% · 37.7 miColumbia: 2% · 49.4 miSumter: 2% · 44.2 miGoose Creek: 2% · 46 miWilkinson Heights: 2% · 12.9 miLexington: 2% · 54.2 miNorth Charleston 9%Orangeburg 6%Summerville 2%Columbia 2%Bowman
BowmanTop destinations (size = commuters)
10%Under 10 mi33 residents
25%10–24 mi81 residents
30%25–50 mi95 residents
35%Over 50 mi111 residents

About 35% 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.

The jobs

What the 42 jobs in Bowman are

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

Jobs based in BowmanJobs Bowman residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms12%28%
Trade, transport & utilities64%26%
Services: health, schools, offices24%46%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less26%19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%35%
Over $3,333 a month43%47%

Who does it

29 or younger17%18%
30 to 5433%52%
55 and older50%30%
−43%

Jobs based in Bowman, 2013 → 2023: 74 → 42. 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.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Bowman

Bowman home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Bowman, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

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.

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