Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetSC-IRWIN-SC · Irwin, SC 1,801 pop · income 25th 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 Irwin
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Irwin on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Wilkinson Hei… · lowest
22,714
Wilkinson Hei… · lowest
22,714 median HH income
13.9% of the leader · rank #1
Cockrell Hill · near
53,788
Cockrell Hill · near
53,788 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #2
Irwin · this city
53,795
Irwin · this city
53,795 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #3
La Crosse · near
53,803
La Crosse · near
53,803 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #4
Cresaptown · near
53,804
Cresaptown · near
53,804 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #5
Trenton · near
53,810
Trenton · near
53,810 median HH income
33.0% of the leader · rank #6
Perry Park · highest
162,971
Perry Park · highest
162,971 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 Irwin 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: 1,801.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Irwin lands in the 25th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
25th
percentile, household income
33rd
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: Irwin, SC
Irwin is a small town in South Carolina, home to 1,801 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $53,795 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 32.5%. Irwin's housing stock carries a median value of $169,100, and the median resident age is 39.6 years. Educational attainment runs 2.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 58.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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 Irwin'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 to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Irwin, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Irwin?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 94.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Irwin?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are South Sumter (1,808 residents, $42,708 income); Jackson (1,782 residents, $37,067 income); Blackville (1,778 residents, $26,100 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Perry Park, CO (1,801 residents); Grandview Plaza, KS (1,801 residents); Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ (1,801 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Irwin?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 32.5%, 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. 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.
Below median income · poverty 32.5% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
F
City profile score · Irwin, SC
25/100
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.
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 F
$53,795
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
32.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
2.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Irwin profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Household income: 25/100 (F) · $53,795
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 32.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 2.9%
How does Irwin compare to other US cities?
Here's how Irwin stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income25% higher than other cities
Home value33% 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 Irwin 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 Irwin near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Irwin ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Irwin only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#182 of 403
55th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#179 of 404
56th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#45 of 439
90th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#420 of 441
5th 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
25th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Irwin's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$169,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 67% 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
Irwin's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,404 of 15,516
More affordable than 52% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,154 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Irwin sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,404 of 15,516 and #6,154 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$53,795Irwin, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Irwin, 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 Irwin, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)2.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)32.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,801
Median Income
$53,795
Median Home Value
$169,100
Median Age
39.6
Poverty Rate
32.5%
Labor force participation
58.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
2.9%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
94.4%
Carpool
1.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
4.6%
Based on 819 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 Irwin. 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 Irwin 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 Irwin sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Irwin 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.