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Towns / South Carolina

Brookdale, South Carolina

Brookdale is an unincorporated community of about 4,300 people in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 2.4 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 117 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
4,291
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$96,500
Orangeburg County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$39,449
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural South Carolina
86.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
35 miles
Columbia, SC
To Charlotte
117 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 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • 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 town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 2 high schools.
  • A hospital close byPrisma Health Baptist in Columbia, about 35 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 117 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 Brookdale 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
$96,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Orangeburg County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$39,449U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
46%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$635 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
7%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%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 Brookdale 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
4,291The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
32.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%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
5%U.S.: 6%
College students
13%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
Manufacturing (19%); schools, health care and social services (17%)
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
35%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Prisma Health Baptist, Columbia, SC, about 35 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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

6 public schools in Brookdale, run by Orangeburg and Limestone Charters Association.

Colleges in or next to town: South Carolina State University (1,000 to 4,999 students); Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College (1,000 to 4,999 students); Claflin University (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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 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
37°F
July average high
93°F
Days 90°F or hotter
85 a year
Nights at or below freezing
43 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.5 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
273 feet

Weather station: Orangeburg 2 (3 miles away). 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: Prisma Health Baptist, Columbia, Charlotte.

Orangeburg County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, 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 Park17 miles

Campus life. Check South Carolina State University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Brookdale's history on Wikipedia.

Know Brookdale?

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

  • Wilkinson Heights, SC (unincorporated)2,012 people, 2 miles
  • Edisto, SC (unincorporated)1,801 people, 5 miles
  • Cameron, SC367 people, 8 miles
  • Cordova, SC138 people, 8 miles
  • Rowesville, SC247 people, 10 miles
  • Bowman, SC770 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.