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Pickens, South Carolina

Pickens is a small town of about 3,200 people in Pickens County, South Carolina. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.7 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 20 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,188
up 1.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$204,100
Pickens County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$55,000
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Greenville area
93.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Cannon Memorial Hospital
To Greenville
20 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.7% below the U.S. average in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 18.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town6 public schools: 3 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byCannon Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGreenville is about 20 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 Pickens 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
$204,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Pickens County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$828 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$55,000U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$894 a yearSouth Carolina: $1,251
Homes built before 1940
22%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
93.3U.S. average = 100 (the Greenville-Anderson-Greer 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 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro area, not Pickens 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
3,1882020: 3,145
Median age
40.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%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
Schools, health care and social services (21%); retail (21%); manufacturing (14%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
30 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Cannon Memorial Hospital, Pickens, SC, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

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 Pickens, run by Pickens 01 and SC Public Charter School District.

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
69%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%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
30°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
48 a year
Nights at or below freezing
74 a year
Rain and melted snow
56.7 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
1,029 feet

Weather station: Pickens (1 mile 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: Greenville.

Pickens 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

7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Civilian Conservation Corps Quarry No. 1 and Truck Trail and the Table Rock State Park Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site30 miles
  • Blue Ridge Parkway30 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail44 miles
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park51 miles
  • Cowpens National Battlefield53 miles

Read about Pickens's history on Wikipedia.

Know Pickens?

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

  • Arial, SC (unincorporated)1,919 people, 5 miles
  • Six Mile, SC770 people, 8 miles
  • Norris, SC761 people, 9 miles
  • Cateechee, SC (unincorporated)850 people, 9 miles
  • Dacusville, SC (unincorporated)198 people, 9 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.