Work & commute · Lake

Work & commute in Lake, SC

Most working residents leave Lake for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Florence (15%), Columbia (3%) and Kingstree (2%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

218 of 1,947 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 1,729 Lake residents head out of town to work, 218 work right here, and 1,380 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lake.

1,729live here, work elsewhere

218live and work here

1,380work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lake goes to work

Florence21.6 mi away

15%285

Lake City (in town)right here

11%218

Columbia66.7 mi away

3%65

Kingstree14.5 mi away

2%40

North Charleston68.1 mi away

2%38

Woodfield68.7 mi away

2%35

Conway40.5 mi away

1%29

Charleston72.9 mi away

1%28

Myrtle Beach51 mi away

1%26

Scranton3.5 mi away

1%24

Everywhere elseother towns and states

60%1,159

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

How far

How far Lake commutes

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

24%

30%

17%

29%

24%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lake is balanced between jobs and homes

0.82jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lake are

1,598 jobs are based in Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lake

1,598 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities34%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month33%

Jobs Lake residents hold

1,947 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month39%

−15%

Jobs based in Lake, 2013 → 2023: 1,877 → 1,598. 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.