City · Aiken County, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in Aiken County, South Carolina, part of the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC metro area. It has 32,521 residents. Aiken, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,538 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #104 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), days with unhealthy air (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on mental health care shortage (high), income inequality (Gini index) (high) and child poverty rate (high).
- Quality-of-life score
- #10,538 of 15,651 cities and towns
- South Carolina
- #104 of 268 in SC
- Population
- 32,521 (2020-2024)
- Land area
- 22 mi²
- Density
- 1,474.3 /mi²
- FIPS code
- 4500550
Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.
Scores by category
Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.
- Safety9#14,240/15,637
- Economy33#10,542/15,631
- Housing32#10,217/14,977
- Health36#9,993/15,609
- Healthcare22#12,241/15,650
- Environment63#5,674/15,453
- Education63#5,790/15,649
- Infrastructure58#6,547/15,650
- Community46#8,478/15,651
- Leisure & amenities44#8,799/15,651
Strengths · Weaknesses
Indicators where Aiken, South Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Aiken County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.
Strengths
- Effective property tax rate · low0.52%
- Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
- Comfortable days · high31.1%83/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAiken County value
- Bachelor's degree or higher · high47.7%
- Loneliness · low32.4%83/100South Carolina 32.7%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
- Natural hazard risk · low12.1
Weaknesses
- Mental health care shortage · high19.03/100South Carolina 15.5United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationAiken County value
- Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.500
- Child poverty rate · high29.0%
- Drug overdose deaths · high30.5 /100k9/100South Carolina 22.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAiken County value
- Hospital quality rating · low2.09/100South Carolina 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAiken County value
- Homicide rate · high8.5 /100k11/100South Carolina 8.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAiken County value
Trends
The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.
- PopulationRising
30,671 (2015-2019) → 32,521 (2020-2024)
+6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
- Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.2% (2015-2019) → 93.1% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
- Median household incomeImproving
$56,199 (2015-2019) → $76,746 (2020-2024)
+37%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
- Rent as share of incomeWorsening
30.3% (2015-2019) → 36.9% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
- Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
41.3% (2015-2019) → 47.7% (2020-2024)
+6.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
- New homes permittedWorsening
6.2 /1k (2021) → 4.3 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−30%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
What changed in five years
How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.
Cities and towns like Aiken, South Carolina five years ago that improved
The places whose measures looked most like those of Aiken, South Carolina in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.
Who lives here
Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).
Income
How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.
Homes
Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.
Getting to work
How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.
Jobs and pay
What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.
Pay in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SCLocal businesses
Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.
Federal contracts performed here
Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Aiken is mostly in Aiken County.
See federal money in Aiken CountyRepresentation in Congress
Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.
County
A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.
Metro area
The metro or micro area the city belongs to.
Other cities and towns in Aiken County
Largest first.
Similar cities and towns
Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).
- Pensacola, FL29Alike on Inequality, Transit use, Rent burden
- Melbourne, FL45Alike on Child poverty, Rent / income, Rent burden
- Albuquerque, NM30Alike on Mental distress, Unemployment, Smoking
- St. Petersburg, FL62Alike on Inequality, Rent / income, Rent burden
- Santa Fe, NM58Alike on Bachelor's+, Median age, Inequality
Data and sources
Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.
- PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
- Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
- American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
- Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
- Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
- Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
- County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement