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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-CLEMSON-UNIVERSITY-SC · Clemson University, SC 6,434 pop
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Clemson University on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 6,434.
South Carolina's Clemson University counts 6,434 residents. Source: Census ACS.
46th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Clemson University, SC
6,434 people live in Clemson University, South Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The median resident age is 19.3 years. Educational attainment runs 100.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 26.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: the state registers 93.7 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,155 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $224 (state average). Commute times here average 12.3 minutes, with 49.8% driving alone and 9.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Clemson University's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Clemson University, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Clemson University?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 49.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 12.3 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for Clemson University?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Dillon (6,406 residents, $34,964 income); Marion (6,338 residents, $27,767 income); Lyman (6,317 residents, $69,688 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Leitchfield, KY (6,434 residents); Southport, NY (6,435 residents); Mount Vernon, IN (6,431 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
A-
City profile score · Clemson University, SC
83/100
2 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
100.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B
93.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Poverty rate N/A
N/A
No ACS poverty rate on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
How does Clemson University compare to other US cities?
Where Clemson University sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Clemson University against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Clemson University near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Clemson University ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Clemson University only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1 of 441
100th percentile in South Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within South Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Clemson University in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)100.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Labor force participation (adults 16+)26.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,434
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
19.3
Poverty Rate
N/A
Labor force participation
26.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
100.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
12.3 minutes
Drive Alone
49.8%
Carpool
4.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
33.5%
Work from Home
9.7%
Other
2.7%
Based on 1,531 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $224
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Carolina at $224 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are South Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for Clemson University. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Clemson University is $1,155/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Clemson University sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Clemson University compares to similar-size South Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.