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Towns / South Carolina

Cowpens, South Carolina

Cowpens is a small town of about 2,300 people in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It's growing fast: its population is up 11% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 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, Greenville, is about 34 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom town

Population
2,257
up 11% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$160,300
Spartanburg County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$39,094
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Spartanburg area
91.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Spartanburg, SC
To Greenville
34 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.9% below the U.S. average in the Spartanburg metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood3 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 15.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Broome High, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close bySpartanburg Medical Center in Spartanburg, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGreenville is about 34 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 Cowpens 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

Boom town. The population is up 11% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

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

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$160,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Spartanburg County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$39,094U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,291 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
15%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
91.1U.S. average = 100 (the Spartanburg 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 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Spartanburg metro area, not Cowpens 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
2,2572020: 2,030
Median age
54.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
36%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
13%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
15%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%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
Manufacturing (29%); schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (11%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
24 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Spartanburg Medical Center, Spartanburg, SC, about 8 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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 Cowpens, run by Spartanburg 03. The nearest public high school is Broome High, about 3 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.

Internet

Homes with any internet subscription
91%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
27°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
55 a year
Nights at or below freezing
93 a year
Rain and melted snow
51.7 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
869 feet

Weather station: Chesnee 7 WSW (11 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: Spartanburg Medical Center, Greer, Greenville.

Spartanburg 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

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Cowpens National Battlefield7 miles
  • Kings Mountain National Military Park23 miles
  • Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site40 miles
  • Blue Ridge Parkway53 miles

Read about Cowpens's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cowpens?

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

  • Clifton, SC (unincorporated)792 people, 2 miles
  • Converse, SC (unincorporated)463 people, 3 miles
  • Glendale, SC (unincorporated)211 people, 5 miles
  • Mayo, SC (unincorporated)2,305 people, 5 miles
  • Drayton, SC (unincorporated)1,452 people, 6 miles
  • Ben Avon, SC (unincorporated)2,487 people, 7 miles
  • Central Pacolet, SC246 people, 8 miles
  • Camp Croft, SC (unincorporated)1,586 people, 8 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.