Jasper County, SC

County Profile

32,166 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Jasper 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.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 15% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 30% of 1,255 counties measured65
Schools923rd of 973 counties measured12
GrowthTop 1% of 1,226 counties measured89
Housing affordability1143rd of 1,255 counties measured64
ClimateTop 31% of 1,254 counties measured73
Physical resilience1236th of 1,255 counties measured7
AccessTop 33% of 1,255 counties measured88
Economic stability1105th of 1,255 counties measured33
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $65,613, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Housing sits below most published city profiles for affordability: rent takes 24% of median household income and the median home is 5.0 times it — each just short of the thresholds that would count as strained, but both toward the costly end.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

At a glance

Population
32,166
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,613
Top 49% nationally
Density
49/sq mi
655.1 sq mi of land
Median age
45.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Jasper County
South Carolina
Metro area
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
Nearest major airport
SAV
23 mi · Savannah/Hilton Head Intl
Median home value
$325,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 42% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment grew 1.4% over the past year, to 14,875 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,705$65,613Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,223$33,970Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.8%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.0 minTop 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.0%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment14,875Bottom 12%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)7.7%Top 2%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.4%Top 11%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force15,565Bottom 12%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation52.0%Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 38%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 42%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.82.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202466k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,613 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 — Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,700$33,880
Waiters and Waitresses3,390$19,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,440$29,550
Cashiers2,280$30,350
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,220$30,900
Cooks, Restaurant1,730$36,820

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.

14% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 18% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
13.6%
Bottom 1% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
18.4%
Bottom 1% in South Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Ridgeland ElementaryJasper 0177518.017%17%
Ridgeland Secondary Academy of ExcellenceJasper 0173913.0
Hardeeville Junior /Senior HighJasper 0169616.6
Hardeeville ElementaryJasper 0169120.99%14%
Royal Live Oaks Academy of the Arts and Sciences Charter Sch · charterCharter Institute at Erskine68813.014%24%
Polaris Tech Charter School · charterSC Public Charter School District51411.7
Heartwood Community School · charterSC Public Charter School District876.2
Ridgeland HighDept Of Correction N0441.0
Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career ExcellenceBeaufort 800

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,328 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
24.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,328
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$325,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.96Top 10%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate77.2%Top 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2714,758Top 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$64$1,328Top 12%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$32,916$325,500Top 16%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income24.3%Top 5%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.1%Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
89/ 100
Top 1% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 3 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

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 22% since 2020, reaching 35,618 in 2024.

Permit activity has risen for 3 consecutive years.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 14% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 52.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
1,675
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
52.1
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
13.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202436k29k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
20222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+70%).

Weather & climate

6 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 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.0 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BEAUFORT MCAS, 18.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing33°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

7 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

HurricaneHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, heat wave, lightning, drought, tornado, inland flooding, hail, ice storm, cold wave, strong wind, winter weather, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Jasper County records 14.7 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 32.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 32.8 per 100,000 residents in Jasper County.

Homicide
14.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
32.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
32.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Jasper County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Jasper County rather than Jasper County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 23 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV23 mi9,351 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS85 mi8,001 ft
Brunswick Golden IslesBQK85 mi8,001 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
52
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

Cities in Jasper County, SC