Work & commute · Lancaster

Work & commute in Lancaster, SC

Most working residents leave Lancaster for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Charlotte (12%), Rock Hill (8%) and Columbia (4%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

604 of 3,815 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 3,211 Lancaster residents head out of town to work, 604 work right here, and 8,179 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lancaster.

3,211live here, work elsewhere

604live and work here

8,179work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lancaster goes to work

Lancaster (in town)right here

16%604

Charlotte, NC33.6 mi away

12%456

Rock Hill20.1 mi away

8%315

Columbia47.7 mi away

4%151

Monroe, NC23 mi away

2%85

Fort Mill21.5 mi away

2%60

Florence67.7 mi away

1%53

North Charleston131.4 mi away

1%45

Springdale3 mi away

1%32

Greenville90.2 mi away

1%28

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%1,986

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

How far

How far Lancaster commutes

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

25%

24%

25%

25%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lancaster is a job hub

2.30jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lancaster are

8,783 jobs are based in Lancaster. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lancaster

8,783 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Lancaster residents hold

3,815 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+22%

Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 7,226 → 8,783. 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.