county

Fairfield County, SC

Demographic and economic profile of Fairfield County, SC, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Fairfield County is a small rural South Carolina county of 20,741 residents with an economy generating $50,548 in GDP per capita against median household income of $47,885 and median worker earnings of $36,543, pointing to modest wage distribution across the workforce. The labor pool of roughly 57.9% participation skews older—median age 47.4—with 15.3% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 5.5%. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $129,100 and median gross rent of $910/month, though the county has shed 8.7% of its population over five years and carries a 16.9% poverty rate.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

20,741

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$47,885

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

47.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-8.7% since 2018

Fairfield County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Black or African American Alone11,307 (55.0%)
  • White Alone8,034 (39.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races649 (3.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race320 (1.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone203 (1.0%)
  • Asian Alone21 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish333
  2. 2.Other Indo-European37
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island23
  4. 4.German or other West Germanic21
  5. 5.Korean13

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,157

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$50,548

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$32,111

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,874
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,761
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services986
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)848
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)668

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,785
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,987
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,973
  4. 4.Service Occupations1,566
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations819

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.22×)2,104
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.58×)711
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.28×)713
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.07×)1,256
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 0.91×)599

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$129,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$910/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

74.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,9991,014 (15.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999737 (11.1%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999511 (7.7%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999491 (7.4%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999452 (6.8%)
  • $125,000 to $149,999414 (6.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

84.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

57.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,543

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone7,104 (79.8%)
  • Carpooled981 (11.0%)
  • Worked At Home565 (6.3%)
  • Other125 (1.4%)
  • Walked105 (1.2%)
  • Public Transit26 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.