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Towns / South Carolina

Yemassee, South Carolina

Yemassee is a small town of about 1,100 people in Hampton County, South Carolina. Its population has held about steady since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Jacksonville, is about 169 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,145
up 1.3% since 2020
Household income
$44,896
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural South Carolina
86.2
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
17 miles
Varnville, SC
To Jacksonville
169 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Yemassee to say.
  • A safer neighborhood14 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 12.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 24.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Whale Branch Early College High, about 14 miles away.
  • A hospital close byHampton Regional Medical Center in Varnville, about 17 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityJacksonville is about 169 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 Yemassee 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

Home prices since then
Up 15%Hampton County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$44,896U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
62%U.S.: 65%
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%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 15% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of South Carolina outside metro areas, not Yemassee 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
1,1452020: 1,130
Median age
38.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
22%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%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
12%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%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 (17%); retail (15%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
39 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
27%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Hampton Regional Medical Center, Varnville, SC, about 17 miles away. 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

1 public school in Yemassee, run by Hampton. The nearest public high school is Whale Branch Early College High, about 14 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 cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%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
36°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
90 a year
Nights at or below freezing
52 a year
Rain and melted snow
45 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
43 feet

Weather stations: Yemassee 1 N (1 mile away) and Beaufort Mcas (17 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: Hampton Regional Medical Center, Summerville, Jacksonville.

Hampton County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, 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:

  • Reconstruction Era National Historical Park27 miles
  • Fort Pulaski National Monument43 miles
  • Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park56 miles

Read about Yemassee's history on Wikipedia.

Know Yemassee?

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

  • Sheldon, SC (unincorporated)610 people, 8 miles
  • Gillisonville, SC (unincorporated)378 people, 9 miles
  • Lobeco, SC (unincorporated)109 people, 13 miles
  • Seabrook, SC (unincorporated)799 people, 13 miles
  • Dale, SC (unincorporated)411 people, 14 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.