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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-JOHNSTON-SC · Johnston, SC 2,518 pop · income 4th 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 Johnston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Johnston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
McColl · lowest
33,925
McColl · lowest
33,925 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #1
Ariton · near
34,943
Ariton · near
34,943 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #2
Johnston · this city
34,957
Johnston · this city
34,957 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #3
Fort Hancock · near
34,957
Fort Hancock · near
34,957 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #4
Clearbrook · near
34,958
Clearbrook · near
34,958 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #5
Versailles · near
34,970
Versailles · near
34,970 median HH income
22.0% of the leader · rank #6
La Selva Beach · highest
159,094
La Selva Beach · highest
159,094 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 Johnston 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: 2,518.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Johnston places in the 4th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
4th
percentile, household income
10th
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: Johnston, SC
Johnston is a small town in South Carolina, home to 2,518 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Johnston households earn a median of $34,957 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.3%. Typical homes in Johnston are valued around $100,400, and the median resident age is 45.7 years. Educational attainment runs 13.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 45.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 62.7°F with 48.5 inches of precipitation per year and 1.0 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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,155 per month statewide. 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 Johnston'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 climate and hazard context to population change to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Johnston, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; 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 Johnston?
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 86.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 62.7°F, with 48.5 inches of precipitation and 1.0 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.
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.
Is Johnston growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +234 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Johnston?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Andrews (2,558 residents, $53,611 income); Pageland (2,476 residents, $40,236 income); Landrum (2,564 residents, $41,161 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hernando Beach, FL (2,518 residents); Star Valley, AZ (2,517 residents); Cayucos, CA (2,517 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Johnston?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 13.8% 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.
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.
Matched public schools
3
Bachelor's degree+
13.8%
Poverty estimate
22.3%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Johnston?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.3%, 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.
Household income
$34,957
Home value
$100,400
Value / income
2.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.3% (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 · Johnston, SC
23/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
22.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$34,957
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Johnston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 17/100 (F) · 13.8%
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 22.3%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $34,957
How does Johnston compare to other US cities?
Where Johnston sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income4% higher than other cities
Home value10% 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 Johnston 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 Johnston near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Johnston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Johnston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#345 of 403
14th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#309 of 404
24th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#115 of 439
74th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#300 of 441
32nd 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
4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Johnston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$100,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 90% 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
Johnston's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,970 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,139 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.9×, Johnston sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,970 of 15,516 and #5,139 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$34,957Johnston, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Johnston, 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 Johnston, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,518
Median Income
$34,957
Median Home Value
$100,400
Median Age
45.7
Poverty Rate
22.3%
Labor force participation
45.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.8%
Climate
Avg Temperature
62.7°F
Annual Precipitation
48.5"
Annual Snowfall
1.0"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Johnston's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,999 residents
2021
2,031 residents
2022
2,078 residents
2023
2,141 residents
2024
2,194 residents
2025
2,233 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.2%
Carpool
6.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.6%
Work from Home
3.1%
Based on 900 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 Johnston. 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 Johnston 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 Johnston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Johnston 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.