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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-AIKEN-SC · Aiken, SC 32,334 pop · income 49th pct · 43 tracts
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.
Income neighbourhood around Aiken
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Aiken on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Anderson · lowest
44,321
Anderson · lowest
44,321 median HH income
34.8% of the leader · rank #1
Sugarmill Woo… · near
69,831
Sugarmill Woo… · near
69,831 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #2
Norco · near
69,833
Norco · near
69,833 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #3
Aiken · this city
69,837
Aiken · this city
69,837 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #4
Amador City · near
69,844
Amador City · near
69,844 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #5
Richardton · near
69,844
Richardton · near
69,844 median HH income
54.8% of the leader · rank #6
Fort Mill · highest
127,537
Fort Mill · highest
127,537 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Aiken on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 32,334.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Aiken - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Aiken lands in the 49th percentile for household income and the 5th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
49th
percentile, household income
58th
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
5th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Aiken, SC
32,334 people live in Aiken, South Carolina - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Aiken brings in $69,837 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.8%. Home values in Aiken run a median of $261,800, and the median resident age is 46.5 years. Educational attainment runs 45.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 50.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 888 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 558% from five years earlier. Aiken's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 4527.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 64.1°F with 50.8 inches of precipitation per year and 0.7 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, South Carolina scores 93.7 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,155 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $224 (state average). Workers in Aiken report an average commute of 21.2 minutes, with 79.5% driving alone and 9.8% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 70.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Aiken'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime to climate and hazard context to schools and households to within-city variation to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Aiken, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Aiken?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Bluffton (31,323 residents, $105,463 income); Anderson (29,563 residents, $44,321 income); Fort Mill (28,281 residents, $127,537 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Florence, KY (32,334 residents); Buenaventura Lakes, FL (32,310 residents); Fairbanks, AK (32,242 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
How far does income reach against housing in Aiken?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 21.2 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.
PlainCities matches 43 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Aiken?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4527.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 99% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
4527.3
Violent rate
568.9
Property rate
3958.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 64.1°F, with 50.8 inches of precipitation and 0.7 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for South Carolina is 70.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
70.7
Annual precipitation
50.8 in
Mean temperature
64.1°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 17 public schools within the city match. 45.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Poverty estimate
9.8%
Bachelor's degree+
45.1%
Matched public schools
17
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,628 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 888 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
32,180
2025 estimate
33,808
Period change
+5.1%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Below median income · poverty 9.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
D
City profile score · Aiken, SC
49/100
5 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-
45.1%
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 D
$69,837
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
569 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Aiken profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 80/100 (A-) · 45.1%
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Household income: 49/100 (D) · $69,837
Poverty rate: 40/100 (D) · 9.8%
Violent crime: 12/100 (F) · 569 /100k
Where Aiken sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Aiken's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Aiken highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Aiken, SC (this city): home $261,800, crime 4,527/100k
Florence, KY : home $196,200, crime 3,445/100k
Fairbanks, AK : home $255,700, crime 4,161/100k
Bay City, MI : home $89,900, crime 2,432/100k
Bluffton, SC : home $444,500, crime 944/100k
Anderson, SC : home $199,600, crime 6,265/100k
Fort Mill, SC : home $457,000, crime 678/100k
Myrtle Beach, SC : home $347,700, crime 6,767/100k
How does Aiken compare to other US cities?
Here's how Aiken stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income49% higher than other cities
Home value58% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety5% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to South Carolina alone, Aiken ranks #90 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Aiken 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 Aiken near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Aiken ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Aiken only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#103 of 403
74th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#73 of 404
82nd percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#263 of 439
40th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#44 of 441
90th 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.
Gauge source note
49th percentile nationally for median household income · 5th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Aiken's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Aiken's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Aiken's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$261,80042nd percentilemore affordable than 42% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Aiken's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,870 of 15,516
More affordable than 36% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,738 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.7×, Aiken sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,870 of 15,516 and #1,738 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$69,837Aiken, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Aiken, SC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Aiken, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)45.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
32,334
Median Income
$69,837
Median Home Value
$261,800
Median Age
46.5
Poverty Rate
9.8%
Labor force participation
50.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
45.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4527.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
568.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3958.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
64.1°F
Annual Precipitation
50.8"
Annual Snowfall
0.7"
Schools
Total Schools
17
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Aiken's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
32,180 residents
2021
32,276 residents
2022
32,421 residents
2023
32,826 residents
2024
32,544 residents
2025
33,808 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
888
housing units authorized
Single-Family
178
detached homes
Multifamily
710
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
27.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
135
85
50
$27.4M
2020
143
137
6
$31.8M
2021
195
195
0
$48.5M
2022
310
140
170
$54.7M
2023
157
157
0
$39.8M
2024
888
178
710
$123.2M
Permit volume increased 558% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
21.2 minutes
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
8.0%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
1.5%
Work from Home
9.8%
Other
0.8%
Based on 13,597 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 Aiken. 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 Aiken 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 Aiken sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Aiken 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.