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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-FRIPP-ISLAND-SC · Fripp Island, SC 753 pop · income 79th pct
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 Fripp Island
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Fripp Island on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Jefferson · lowest
35,227
Jefferson · lowest
35,227 median HH income
18.2% of the leader · rank #1
Cologne · near
101,723
Cologne · near
101,723 median HH income
52.7% of the leader · rank #2
Fripp Island · this city
101,731
Fripp Island · this city
101,731 median HH income
52.7% of the leader · rank #3
Englishtown · near
101,736
Englishtown · near
101,736 median HH income
52.7% of the leader · rank #4
Red Bank · near
101,738
Red Bank · near
101,738 median HH income
52.7% of the leader · rank #5
Cadiz · near
101,750
Cadiz · near
101,750 median HH income
52.7% of the leader · rank #6
DeBordieu Col… · highest
193,182
DeBordieu Col… · highest
193,182 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Fripp Island 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: 753.
Fripp Island ranks in the 79th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
79th
percentile, household income
89th
percentile, home value
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: Fripp Island, SC
753 people live in Fripp Island, South Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Fripp Island report a median income of $101,731 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 0.8%. Typical homes in Fripp Island are valued around $605,800, and the median resident age is 65.8 years. Educational attainment runs 57.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 40.0% 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. Monthly utility costs average around $224 across South Carolina, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Fripp Island'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 work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Fripp Island, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Fripp Island?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Jefferson (753 residents, $35,227 income); Dunbar (750 residents, $88,250 income); DeBordieu Colony (748 residents, $193,182 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Junction City, IL (753 residents); Union, IL (753 residents); Windsor, IL (753 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.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Fripp Island?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Fripp Island?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
A-
City profile score · Fripp Island, SC
82/100
4 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.
Poverty rate A+
0.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
57.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B+
$101,731
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Fripp Island profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 94/100 (A+) · 0.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 90/100 (A+) · 57.3%
Household income: 78/100 (B+) · $101,731
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
How does Fripp Island compare to other US cities?
Where Fripp Island sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income79% higher than other cities
Home value89% pricier than other cities
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 Fripp Island 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 Fripp Island near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Fripp Island ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Fripp Island only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#32 of 403
92nd percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#13 of 404
97th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#397 of 439
10th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#23 of 441
95th 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
79th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Fripp Island's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$605,80011th percentilemore affordable than 11% 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
Fripp Island's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,067 of 15,516
More affordable than 9% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,442 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.0×, Fripp Island sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,067 of 15,516 and #10,442 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$101,731Fripp Island, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Fripp Island, 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 Fripp Island, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)57.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)40.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
753
Median Income
$101,731
Median Home Value
$605,800
Median Age
65.8
Poverty Rate
0.8%
Labor force participation
40.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
57.3%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.8%
Carpool
2.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.3%
Work from Home
20.6%
Other
1.6%
Based on 301 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 Fripp Island. 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 Fripp Island 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 Fripp Island sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Fripp Island 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.