Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / South Carolina

Bennettsville, South Carolina

Bennettsville is a small town of about 7,600 people in Marlboro County, South Carolina. It's the county seat. It has lost about 5% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Charlotte, is about 76 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
7,565
down 4.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$92,100
Marlboro County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$37,115
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural South Carolina
86.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
14 miles
Cheraw, SC
To Charlotte
76 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 13.8% below the U.S. average in the parts of South Carolina outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood36 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 31.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byMcLeod Health Cheraw in Cheraw, about 14 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 76 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 Bennettsville 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.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$92,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Marlboro County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$671 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$37,115U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
45%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$614 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
9%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
86.2U.S. average = 100 (the parts of South Carolina outside metro areas)

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 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of South Carolina outside metro areas, not Bennettsville 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, 2025 estimate
7,5652020: 7,957
Median age
41.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
13%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

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
Schools, health care and social services (25%); manufacturing (24%); other services (10%)
Unemployment rate
13%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
29 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
28%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: McLeod Health Cheraw, Cheraw, SC, about 14 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

3 public schools in Bennettsville, run by Marlboro 01.

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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
47%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
77%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

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

Weather

January average low
34°F
July average high
92°F
Days 90°F or hotter
62 a year
Nights at or below freezing
54 a year
Rain and melted snow
48.6 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
135 feet

Weather stations: Mccoll 3 NNW (9 miles away) and Cheraw (12 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: McLeod Health Cheraw, Fayetteville, Charlotte.

Marlboro County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Bennettsville Historic District and the Welsh Neck-Long Bluff-Society Hill Historic District.

Read about Bennettsville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Bennettsville?

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

  • Blenheim, SC107 people, 8 miles
  • Clio, SC577 people, 9 miles
  • Gibson, NC455 people, 10 miles
  • Scotch Meadows, NC (unincorporated)370 people, 10 miles
  • Wallace, SC (unincorporated)665 people, 11 miles
  • Cash, SC (unincorporated)754 people, 12 miles
  • Society Hill, SC428 people, 12 miles
  • Old Hundred, NC (unincorporated)131 people, 15 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.