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Towns / South Carolina

Arthurtown, South Carolina

Arthurtown is an unincorporated community of about 3,300 people in Richland County, South Carolina, in the Columbia area. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Charlotte, is about 86 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Columbia

Population
3,272
Census survey, 2020-24
Household income
$21,046
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Columbia area
93.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
3 miles
Columbia, SC
To Charlotte
86 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.3% below the U.S. average in the Columbia metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Arthurtown to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Richland One Charter Middle College, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMusc Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown in Columbia, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 86 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Arthurtown meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Arthurtown runs into the built-up area around Columbia (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Home prices since then
Up 20%Richland County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$830 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$21,046U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
25%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$573 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.7U.S. average = 100 (the Columbia metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 20% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Columbia metro area, not Arthurtown alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
3,272The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
22.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
4%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
5%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
12%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Professional and business services (17%)
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Musc Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown, Columbia, SC, about 3 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Arthurtown, run by Richland 01. The nearest public high school is Richland One Charter Middle College, about 2 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on South Carolina's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
37°F
July average high
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
83 a year
Nights at or below freezing
33 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.1 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
168 feet

Weather stations: Columbia Owens Dwtn Ap (less than a mile away) and Columbia Univ Of Sc (2 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Musc Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown, Columbia, Charlotte.

Richland County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Congaree National Park12 miles
  • Ninety Six National Historic Site59 miles

Read about Arthurtown's history on Wikipedia.

Know Arthurtown?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Olympia, SC (unincorporated)935 people, 2 miles
  • Arcadia Lakes, SC852 people, 6 miles
  • Hopkins, SC (unincorporated)1,985 people, 9 miles
  • Edmund, SC (unincorporated)1,161 people, 13 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.