Florence County, SC

County Profile

137,117 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Florence 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.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 41% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 47% of 1,463 counties measured56
Schools938th of 1,377 counties measured36
GrowthTop 22% of 1,453 counties measured65
Housing affordability901st of 1,462 counties measured71
ClimateTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured76
Physical resilience1,034th of 1,463 counties measured43
Access1,008th of 1,463 counties measured71
Economic stability1,253rd of 1,463 counties measured30
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $58,305, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 42% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.0 students for every teacher.

714 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% 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
137,117
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,305
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
171/sq mi
800.5 sq mi of land
Median age
39.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Florence County
South Carolina
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MYR
51 mi · Myrtle Beach Intl
Median home value
$177,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.6% — higher than in all but 31% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 3.5% over the past year, to 64,052 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,40030th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$50,59525th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9792024 ACS 5-Year$58,305Bottom 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2132024 ACS 5-Year$33,071Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$55,326Bottom 47%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year18.0%Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.7 minTop 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year24.4%Top 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.4%64th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202664,052Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.4%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.5%Top 3%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202667,10867th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%Bottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%62nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.6%Bottom 31%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.92.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.6% 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

202120222023202458k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,305 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 — Florence, SC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses3,120$81,170
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,880$24,590
Retail Salespersons2,600$28,650
Cashiers2,430$26,420
Stockers and Order Fillers2,310$35,360
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,270$29,950

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.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.0 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
38
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.0
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
42.0%
Bottom 22% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
51.1%
Bottom 39% in South Carolina
The 12 largest of 38 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
West Florence HighFlorence 011,82717.460%77%
South Florence HighFlorence 011,58015.351%74%
Wilson HighFlorence 011,37314.951%62%
Southside MiddleFlorence 011,13814.223%40%
John W. Moore MiddleFlorence 011,05614.546%47%
Delmae Heights ElementaryFlorence 0198815.755%58%
Williams MiddleFlorence 0179211.628%42%
Hannah-Pamplico Elementary/Middle SchoolFlorence 0278215.331%36%
Virtus Academy of South Carolina · charterCharter Institute at Erskine75612.832%47%
Henry L. Sneed MiddleFlorence 0163412.225%47%
Lucy T. Davis ElementaryFlorence 0163214.461%60%
Carver ElementaryFlorence 0161514.355%54%

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 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.2, 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 Florence, SC Metro Area is up 46% over five years, and up 7.0% 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 $756 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.42% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,117, some 17% above the $954 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,117 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,700 a year, about 77% of the median household income here of $58,305.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $954 a month.

A median home at $177,900 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $73,673, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
88.2

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Florence, 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
30.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,117
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$954
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$177,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Florence County’s median household income of $58,305, 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 Florence, SC Metro Area’s figure202388.2Top 9%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Florence, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.0%96th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Florence, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+45.5%53rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Florence, SC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+73.2%20th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.4Top 45%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year64.5%14th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±482024 ACS 5-Year62,09085th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$953Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,434Top 41%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,117Top 43%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$292024 ACS 5-Year$954Bottom 36%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,8912024 ACS 5-Year$177,90048th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$75613th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,7932024 ACS 5-Year$73,673Bottom 43%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.42%9th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year30.8%Bottom 22%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2042024 ACS 5-Year68666th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%27th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.8%78th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7502024 ACS 5-Year9,23490th 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

65/ 100
Top 22% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 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 1% since 2020, reaching 138,049 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Florence County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $52,400, close to the $50,595 of households that moved out.

At 5.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
714
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.2
Top 27% nationally
Year over year
+10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
28.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024138k136k
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 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
42%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,400
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,595
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Darlington County, SC 994 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Williamsburg County, SC 350 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  3. Horry County, SC 269 people · 4.8% of arrivals
  4. Marion County, SC 217 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  5. Richland County, SC 184 people · 3.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Darlington County, SC 1,025 people · 19% of departures
  2. Richland County, SC 296 people · 5.5% of departures
  3. Horry County, SC 267 people · 4.9% of departures
  4. Williamsburg County, SC 260 people · 4.8% of departures
  5. Sumter County, SC 172 people · 3.2% 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

2022202320242025697536
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+11%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.3 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 FLORENCE RGNL AP, 10.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year592024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
59
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

43 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 35% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HurricaneElevated
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeElevated
HailModerate
WildfireModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, ice storm, inland flooding, winter weather, strong wind, cold wave, drought, landslide, coastal flooding, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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.

Florence County records 16.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 24.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 24.8 per 100,000 residents in Florence County.

Homicide
16.8
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
24.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
24.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.9
per 100,000 residents

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 Florence 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 Myrtle Beach Intl at 51 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year83.3%Bottom 25%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle51 miBottom 30%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Bottom 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR51 mi9,503 ft
Charleston AFB/IntlCHS80 mi9,001 ft
Columbia MetroCAE81 mi8,601 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
57
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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.

Cities in Florence County, SC

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.