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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-SUMTER-SC · Sumter, SC 43,065 pop · income 24th pct · 26 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 Sumter
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sumter on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Spartanburg · lowest
51,193
Spartanburg · lowest
51,193 median HH income
40.1% of the leader · rank #1
Sumter · this city
53,071
Sumter · this city
53,071 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #2
Granite Quarry · near
53,072
Granite Quarry · near
53,072 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #3
Sardis · near
53,077
Sardis · near
53,077 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #4
Ponca · near
53,077
Ponca · near
53,077 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #5
Hialeah · near
53,079
Hialeah · near
53,079 median HH income
41.5% of the leader · rank #6
West Babylon · highest
127,785
West Babylon · highest
127,785 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 Sumter 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: 43,065.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Sumter - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Sumter lands in the 24th percentile for household income and the 4th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
24th
percentile, household income
39th
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
4th
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: Sumter, SC
43,065 people live in Sumter, South Carolina - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $53,071 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 12.1%. Home values in Sumter run a median of $188,400, and the median resident age is 33.3 years. 28.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 48.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Sumter's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 4803.6 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Sumter's yearly average temperature at 62.1°F with 48.8 inches of precipitation per year and 0.3 inches of snowfall.
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. 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 Sumter'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 reported crime to climate and hazard context to schools and households to comparison shortlist to population change to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Sumter, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Sumter?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 84.3%. 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. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Sumter?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 4803.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 111% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Sumter?
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 Florence (40,205 residents, $56,433 income); Greer (39,191 residents, $80,030 income); Goose Creek (46,964 residents, $87,437 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Woonsocket, RI (43,074 residents); North Miami Beach, FL (43,104 residents); Hollister, CA (43,003 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.
PlainCities matches 26 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.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Sumter?
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 62.1°F, with 48.8 inches of precipitation and 0.3 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
70.7
Annual precipitation
48.8 in
Mean temperature
62.1°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
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 20 public schools within the city match. 28.6% 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
12.1%
Bachelor's degree+
28.6%
Matched public schools
20
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -357 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.8% 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.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
43,451
2025 estimate
43,094
Period change
-0.8%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Sumter?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.5×
Home value
$188,400
Household income
$53,071
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
F
City profile score · Sumter, SC
35/100
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 C
28.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$53,071
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
1,098 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Sumter profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Bachelor's+ share: 56/100 (C) · 28.6%
Poverty rate: 31/100 (F) · 12.1%
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $53,071
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 1,098 /100k
Where Sumter sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Sumter'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 - Sumter highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Sumter, SC (this city): home $188,400, crime 4,804/100k
Woonsocket, RI : home $268,000, crime 1,891/100k
North Miami Beach, FL : home $317,800, crime 3,495/100k
Hollister, CA : home $679,300, crime 1,164/100k
Schertz, TX : home $292,100, crime 1,041/100k
Delaware, OH : home $279,400, crime 1,137/100k
Florence, SC : home $189,800, crime 4,725/100k
Greer, SC : home $264,300, crime 2,072/100k
Goose Creek, SC : home $279,500, crime 1,722/100k
Spartanburg, SC : home $185,300, crime 6,709/100k
Myrtle Beach, SC : home $347,700, crime 6,767/100k
How does Sumter compare to other US cities?
Where Sumter sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income24% higher than other cities
Home value39% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety4% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to South Carolina alone, Sumter ranks #95 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Sumter 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 Sumter near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sumter ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sumter only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#191 of 403
53rd percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#151 of 404
63rd percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#231 of 439
47th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#114 of 441
74th 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
24th percentile nationally for median household income · 4th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Sumter's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Sumter'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 Sumter's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$188,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 61% 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
Sumter's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,180 of 15,516
More affordable than 41% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,541 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.5×, Sumter sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,180 of 15,516 and #1,541 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$53,071Sumter, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Sumter, 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 Sumter, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)48.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
43,065
Median Income
$53,071
Median Home Value
$188,400
Median Age
33.3
Poverty Rate
12.1%
Labor force participation
48.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
4803.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
1097.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3706.1
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
62.1°F
Annual Precipitation
48.8"
Annual Snowfall
0.3"
Schools
Total Schools
20
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Sumter's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
43,451 residents
2021
43,260 residents
2022
42,888 residents
2023
42,960 residents
2024
43,058 residents
2025
43,094 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.3%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.2%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
5.3%
Other
1.1%
Based on 18,289 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 Sumter. 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 Sumter 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 Sumter sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Sumter 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.