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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-MARION-SC · Marion, SC 6,338 pop · income 2nd pct · 8 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 Marion
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Marion on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rochester Ins… · lowest
19,420
Rochester Ins… · lowest
19,420 median HH income
18.6% of the leader · rank #1
Anmoore · near
27,738
Anmoore · near
27,738 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #2
Roma · near
27,741
Roma · near
27,741 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #3
Ridgeville · near
27,750
Ridgeville · near
27,750 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #4
Gifford · near
27,765
Gifford · near
27,765 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #5
Marion · this city
27,767
Marion · this city
27,767 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #6
Tea · highest
104,643
Tea · highest
104,643 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 Marion 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: 6,338.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Marion - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Marion lands in the 2nd percentile for household income and the 2nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
2nd
percentile, household income
17th
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
2nd
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: Marion, SC
South Carolina's Marion is a small town, with 6,338 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Marion report a median income of $27,767 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.6%. Typical homes in Marion are valued around $119,400, and the median resident age is 44.0 years. About 19.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 44.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 11 residential building permits were authorized in Marion (Construction Slowdown), down 35% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Marion's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 6189.8 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Marion's yearly average temperature at 63.2°F with 49.3 inches of precipitation per year.
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. 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 Marion'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 within-city variation to population change to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households to reported crime to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Marion, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can 8 Census tracts reveal inside Marion?
PlainCities matches 8 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -342 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 11 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Which cities make useful reference points for Marion?
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 Lyman (6,317 residents, $69,688 income); Dillon (6,406 residents, $34,964 income); Clemson University (6,434 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rochester Institute of Technology, NY (6,339 residents); Tea, SD (6,339 residents); Village of Oak Creek (Big Park), AZ (6,340 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.
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 63.2°F, with 49.3 inches of precipitation. 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Marion?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
4.3×
Home value
$119,400
Household income
$27,767
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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 5 public schools within the city match. 19.3% 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
22.6%
Bachelor's degree+
19.3%
Matched public schools
5
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Marion?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 6189.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 171% 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
6189.8
Violent rate
881.9
Property rate
5307.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the journey to work look like in Marion?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Drive alone
86.6%
Work from home
5.0%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,189 workers age 16+.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.6% (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 · Marion, SC
21/100
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.
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
19.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
22.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$27,767
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
882 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Marion profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 32/100 (F) · 19.3%
Poverty rate: 9/100 (F) · 22.6%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $27,767
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 882 /100k
Where Marion sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Marion'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 - Marion highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Marion, SC (this city): home $119,400, crime 6,190/100k
Tea, SD : home $305,300, crime 1,279/100k
Lyman, SC : home $239,800, crime 959/100k
Dillon, SC : home $110,000, crime 9,039/100k
Darlington, SC : home $163,000, crime 7,018/100k
Lake City, SC : home $133,700, crime 6,552/100k
Bennettsville, SC : home $82,700, crime 4,557/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Marion compare to other US cities?
Here's how Marion stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value17% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety2% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at South Carolina, Marion ranks #106 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Marion 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 Marion near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Marion ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Marion only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#381 of 403
5th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#261 of 404
35th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#110 of 439
75th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#207 of 441
53rd 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income · 2nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Marion's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Marion'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 Marion's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$119,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 83% 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
Marion's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,524 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,885 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Marion sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,524 of 15,516 and #8,885 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
$27,767Marion, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Marion, 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 Marion, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)19.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,338
Median Income
$27,767
Median Home Value
$119,400
Median Age
44.0
Poverty Rate
22.6%
Labor force participation
44.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
19.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
6189.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
881.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
5307.9
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
63.2°F
Annual Precipitation
49.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Marion's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,370 residents
2021
6,292 residents
2022
6,179 residents
2023
6,161 residents
2024
6,120 residents
2025
6,028 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
11
housing units authorized
Single-Family
11
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
17
15
2
$1.0M
2020
16
16
0
$1.0M
2021
9
9
0
$0.9M
2022
12
12
0
$1.0M
2023
10
10
0
$0.9M
2024
11
11
0
$0.9M
Permit volume decreased 35% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.6%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.0%
Other
1.4%
Based on 2,189 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 Marion. 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 Marion 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 Marion sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Marion 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.