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-WATTS-MILLS-SC · Watts Mills, SC 2,250 pop · income 15th 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 Watts Mills
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Watts Mills on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ware Shoals · lowest
35,896
Ware Shoals · lowest
35,896 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #1
Crowley · near
47,188
Crowley · near
47,188 median HH income
36.0% of the leader · rank #2
Decker · near
47,188
Decker · near
47,188 median HH income
36.0% of the leader · rank #3
Holy Cross · near
47,188
Holy Cross · near
47,188 median HH income
36.0% of the leader · rank #4
Belle Glade · near
47,191
Belle Glade · near
47,191 median HH income
36.0% of the leader · rank #5
Watts Mills · this city
47,192
Watts Mills · this city
47,192 median HH income
36.0% of the leader · rank #6
Riverview · highest
131,158
Riverview · highest
131,158 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 Watts Mills 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: 2,250.
Watts Mills ranks in the 15th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
15th
percentile, household income
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: Watts Mills, SC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,250 residents in Watts Mills, a small town within South Carolina. The typical household in Watts Mills brings in $47,192 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 6.2%. The median resident age is 29.5 years. 2.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 52.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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. 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 Watts Mills'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Watts Mills, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Watts Mills?
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Westminster (2,244 residents, $38,393 income); Edisto (2,261 residents, $46,644 income); Kershaw (2,220 residents, $58,077 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dry Ridge, KY (2,250 residents); Alpha, NJ (2,249 residents); Louisa, VA (2,249 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Watts Mills?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
F
City profile score · Watts Mills, SC
37/100
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.
Poverty rate C
6.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$47,192
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
2.6%
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).
Watts Mills profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Poverty rate: 58/100 (C) · 6.2%
Household income: 16/100 (F) · $47,192
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 2.6%
How does Watts Mills compare to other US cities?
Here's how Watts Mills stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income15% higher 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 Watts Mills 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 Watts Mills near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Watts Mills ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Watts Mills only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#238 of 403
41st percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#330 of 439
25th percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#422 of 441
4th 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
15th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$47,192Watts Mills, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Watts Mills, 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 Watts Mills, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)2.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,250
Median Income
$47,192
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
29.5
Poverty Rate
6.2%
Labor force participation
52.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
2.6%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
58.3%
Carpool
40.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 847 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 Watts Mills. 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 Watts Mills 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 Watts Mills sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Watts Mills 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.