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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-PENDLETON-SC · Pendleton, SC 3,542 pop · income 36th 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 Pendleton
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pendleton on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Holt · lowest
46,379
Holt · lowest
46,379 median HH income
49.2% of the leader · rank #1
Montoursville · near
60,514
Montoursville · near
60,514 median HH income
64.1% of the leader · rank #2
Tiro · near
60,515
Tiro · near
60,515 median HH income
64.1% of the leader · rank #3
Pendleton · this city
60,517
Pendleton · this city
60,517 median HH income
64.1% of the leader · rank #4
Sparta · near
60,517
Sparta · near
60,517 median HH income
64.1% of the leader · rank #5
Guy · near
60,521
Guy · near
60,521 median HH income
64.1% of the leader · rank #6
Mill Bay · highest
94,359
Mill Bay · highest
94,359 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 Pendleton 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: 3,542.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pendleton - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Pendleton lands in the 36th percentile for household income and the 35th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
36th
percentile, household income
53rd
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
35th
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: Pendleton, SC
3,542 people live in Pendleton, South Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Pendleton brings in $60,517 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 24.1%. Pendleton's housing stock carries a median value of $236,900, and the median resident age is 41.6 years. Educational attainment runs 51.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1886.3 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts South Carolina at 93.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,155 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $224 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Pendleton'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 reported crime to schools and households to comparison shortlist to population change 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 Pendleton, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Pendleton?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1886.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 17% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
What does the education layer cover for Pendleton?
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 51.0% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pendleton?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Wyboo (3,582 residents, $57,725 income); Roebuck (3,468 residents, $51,111 income); Wellford (3,432 residents, $55,871 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Waterloo, WI (3,542 residents); Mill Bay, AK (3,541 residents); Netcong, NJ (3,543 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Is Pendleton 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 +241 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.9% 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Pendleton?
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 85.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
11.6%
Drive alone
85.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,852 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Pendleton?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 24.1%, 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
$60,517
Home value
$236,900
Value / income
3.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 24.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
D
City profile score · Pendleton, SC
44/100
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
51.0%
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 F
$60,517
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
296 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
24.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Pendleton profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 85/100 (A) · 51.0%
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Household income: 35/100 (F) · $60,517
Violent crime: 34/100 (F) · 296 /100k
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 24.1%
Where Pendleton sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pendleton'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 - Pendleton highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Pendleton, SC (this city): home $236,900, crime 1,886/100k
Waterloo, WI : home $219,100, crime 493/100k
Netcong, NJ : home $344,300, crime 649/100k
Centerville, TN : home $205,100, crime 503/100k
Wellford, SC : home $217,700, crime 1,021/100k
Pickens, SC : home $196,400, crime 3,365/100k
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 Pendleton compare to other US cities?
Pendleton measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income36% higher than other cities
Home value53% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety35% 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, Pendleton ranks #40 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 Pendleton 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 Pendleton near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pendleton ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pendleton only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#134 of 403
67th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#89 of 404
78th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#99 of 439
77th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#30 of 441
93rd 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
36th percentile nationally for median household income · 35th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pendleton's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pendleton'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 Pendleton's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$236,90047th percentilemore affordable than 47% 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
Pendleton's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,444 of 15,516
More affordable than 33% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,198 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.9×, Pendleton sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,444 of 15,516 and #8,198 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
$60,517Pendleton, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pendleton, 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 Pendleton, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)51.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)24.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,542
Median Income
$60,517
Median Home Value
$236,900
Median Age
41.6
Poverty Rate
24.1%
Labor force participation
59.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
51.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1886.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
296.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1589.9
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.
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pendleton's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,498 residents
2021
3,543 residents
2022
3,589 residents
2023
3,656 residents
2024
3,703 residents
2025
3,739 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.0%
Carpool
3.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
11.6%
Based on 1,852 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 Pendleton. 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 Pendleton 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 Pendleton sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pendleton 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, 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.