Work & commute · Sumter

Work & commute in Sumter, SC

About one in 3 of Sumter’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Columbia (7%), Florence (2%) and North Charleston (1%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

31%

4,646 of 15,010 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 10,364 Sumter residents head out of town to work, 4,646 work right here, and 15,984 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Sumter.

10,364live here, work elsewhere

4,646live and work here

15,984work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Sumter goes to work

Sumter (in town)right here

31%4,646

Columbia29.6 mi away

7%1,120

Florence38.3 mi away

2%329

North Charleston73.2 mi away

1%219

Manning19.9 mi away

1%165

Greenville128.1 mi away

1%158

East Sumter6 mi away

1%111

Charleston80.7 mi away

1%89

Camden25.1 mi away

1%87

West Columbia40.5 mi away

1%86

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%8,000

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

How far

How far Sumter commutes

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

49%

24%

21%

49%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Sumter is balanced between jobs and homes

1.37jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Sumter are

20,630 jobs are based in Sumter. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sumter’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sumter

20,630 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month40%

Jobs Sumter residents hold

15,010 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month47%

−3%

Jobs based in Sumter, 2013 → 2023: 21,202 → 20,630. 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.