Edgefield County, SC

County Profile

27,476 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Edgefield County, SC.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 26% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 12% of 1,463 counties measured77
Schools826th of 1,377 counties measured43
GrowthTop 11% of 1,453 counties measured73
Housing affordability828th of 1,462 counties measured72
ClimateTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilienceTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured61
AccessTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured85
Economic stability1,378th of 1,463 counties measured19
The quick read

Edgefield County ranks in the top 12% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.5% and median household income of $73,029.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.6 students for every teacher.

188 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
27,476
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,029
Top 30% nationally
Density
55/sq mi
500.7 sq mi of land
Median age
41.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Edgefield County
South Carolina
Nearest major airport
AGS
28 mi · Augusta Rgnl At Bush Fld
Median home value
$202,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.9% over the past year, to 12,764 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$69,25871st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$58,14451st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,9422024 ACS 5-Year$73,029Top 30%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8412024 ACS 5-Year$33,147Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,244Bottom 21%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.6%Bottom 23%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.5 minBottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.3%Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.4%64th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,764Bottom 16%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+8.7%Top 1%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.9%Top 12%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,22616th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year62.3%Bottom 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%92nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.92.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202473k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,029 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,710$26,620
Retail Salespersons6,930$29,350
Registered Nurses6,880$87,760
Cashiers6,040$28,310
General and Operations Managers4,230$102,360
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,920$28,730

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.6 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.6
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
43.3%
Bottom 30% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
52.1%
Bottom 43% in South Carolina
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Merriwether ElementaryEdgefield 0176014.141%47%
Strom Thurmond HighEdgefield 0172015.737%62%
Fox Creek High · charterSC Public Charter School District67216.072%87%
Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton MiddleEdgefield 0139412.333%39%
Merriwether MiddleEdgefield 0136514.642%45%
W. E. Parker ElementaryEdgefield 0133911.341%38%
Johnston ElementaryEdgefield 0127611.532%32%
Douglas ElementaryEdgefield 0121510.227%27%
Bettis Preparatory Leadership Academy · charterSC Public Charter School District11811.835%25%
Trenton HighDept Of Correction N0430.8——
Strom Thurmond Career and Technology CenterEdgefield 010———

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area is up 49% over five years, and up 5.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $875 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.43% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,261, some 75% above the $720 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,261 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $50,400 a year, about 69% of the median household income here of $73,029.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $720 a month.

A median home at $202,700 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,784, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.2

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,261
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$720
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$202,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Edgefield County’s median household income of $73,029, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area’s figure202391.2Top 28%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+5.0%75th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.2%67th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+102.5%65th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.1%81st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±282024 ACS 5-Year11,51347th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,114Bottom 33%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,627Bottom 43%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,261Bottom 41%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1002024 ACS 5-Year$720Top 18%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,3632024 ACS 5-Year$202,70057th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$712024 ACS 5-Year$87518th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,7982024 ACS 5-Year$86,784Top 29%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.43%9th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%Bottom 26%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1512024 ACS 5-Year24640th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.1%44th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.0%74th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2702024 ACS 5-Year1,74550th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

73/ 100
Top 11% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 15% since 2020, reaching 29,455 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 194 units authorized in 2025, up 7% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 29,455 residents in 2024, up 2.9% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 188 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Edgefield County gained about 3.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $69,258, above the $58,144 of households that moved out.

At 6.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
188
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.8
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
−4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202429k26k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+3.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
44%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$69,258
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$58,144
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Aiken County, SC 709 people · 38% of arrivals
  2. Richmond County, GA 147 people · 7.9% of arrivals
  3. Columbia County, GA 105 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  4. Saluda County, SC 82 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  5. Lexington County, SC 39 people · 2.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Aiken County, SC 523 people · 46% of departures
  2. Richmond County, GA 74 people · 6.5% of departures
  3. Columbia County, GA 70 people · 6.2% of departures
  4. Saluda County, SC 56 people · 4.9% of departures
  5. Lexington County, SC 48 people · 4.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025238181
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−11%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AUGUSTA DANIEL FLD AP, 22.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals44.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

61 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormModerate
HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtElevated
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, heat wave, strong wind, hail, landslide, tornado, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Edgefield County has a modeled homicide rate of about 6.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 17.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 18.5 per 100,000 residents in Edgefield County.

Homicide
6.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
18.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Edgefield County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Augusta Rgnl At Bush Fld at 28 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%Bottom 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle28 miTop 40%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.4%Bottom 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS28 mi8,001 ft
Columbia MetroCAE49 mi8,601 ft
Donaldson FldGYH72 mi8,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
66
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.