Work & commute · Gaston

Work & commute in Gaston, SC

Most working residents leave Gaston for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Columbia (15%), West Columbia (5%) and Lexington (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 596 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 590 Gaston residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 507 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gaston.

590live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

507work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gaston goes to work

Columbia19.2 mi away

15%91

West Columbia11.9 mi away

5%31

Lexington13.9 mi away

4%26

Cayce9.8 mi away

4%24

Red Bank10.7 mi away

2%12

Irmo20.4 mi away

2%9

North Charleston86.3 mi away

2%9

Seven Oaks15.9 mi away

2%9

Greenville100.7 mi away

1%7

Charleston94.4 mi away

1%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

62%371

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

How far

How far Gaston commutes

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

23%

49%

21%

23%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gaston is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Gaston are

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

Jobs based in Gaston

513 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities48%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less35%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month24%

Jobs Gaston residents hold

596 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month50%

−47%

Jobs based in Gaston, 2013 → 2023: 977 → 513. 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.