Town · Bamberg County, South Carolina

Bamberg, South Carolina

Bamberg is a town in Bamberg County, South Carolina. It has 2,996 residents. Bamberg, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 3 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,210 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #253 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), social associations (high) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on unemployment rate (high), distance to an emergency room (high) and arts, entertainment and recreation (low).

3Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,210 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Carolina: #253 of 268 in SC
Population: 2,996 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 838.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 4503790

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety2#15,249/15,637
Economy2#15,260/15,631
Housing29#10,643/14,977
Health9#14,193/15,609
Healthcare7#14,512/15,650
Environment42#8,937/15,453
Education29#11,066/15,649
Infrastructure7#14,543/15,650
Community26#11,571/15,651
Leisure & amenities10#14,030/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bamberg, South Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bamberg 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

Pharmacies · high4.7 /10k
100/100South Carolina 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBamberg County value
Social associations · high20.8 /10k
98/100South Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBamberg County value
Public libraries · high1.6 /10k
87/100South Carolina 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBamberg County value
Comfortable days · high32.1%
87/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBamberg County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low7 mi
87/100South Carolina 18 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBamberg County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100South Carolina 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBamberg County value

Weaknesses

Unemployment rate · high21.8%
1/100South Carolina 4.5%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Distance to an emergency room · high23.3 mi
2/100South Carolina 7.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBamberg County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.8 /10k
2/100South Carolina 5.1 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBamberg County value
Premature death · high15,942 /100k
3/100South Carolina 10,517 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBamberg County value
Flu vaccinations · low25.0%
3/100South Carolina 46.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBamberg County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low32.6%
3/100South Carolina 69.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBamberg County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
3,267 (2015-2019) → 2,996 (2020-2024)
−8.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
52.4% (2015-2019) → 28.2% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateWorsening
3.4% (2015-2019) → 21.8% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
66.2% (2015-2019) → 47.8% (2020-2024)
−18 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$27,137 (2015-2019) → $49,531 (2020-2024)
+83%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
37.8% (2015-2019) → 22.9% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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.

Over about five years, Bamberg, South Carolina improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Child poverty−24 points52.4% → 28.2%
Broadband+13 points66.9% → 79.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Bamberg, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.4 min2015-2019	22.4 min2020-2024	−2.9 min	Within the margin of error	79%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.4%2015-2019	24.4%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Broadband subscriptions	66.9%2015-2019	79.7%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Child poverty rate	52.4%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	−24 points	Improved	96%
Effective property tax rate	1.08%2015-2019	0.81%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	70%
High school diploma or higher	76.0%2015-2019	83.1%2020-2024	+7.1 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4712015-2019	0.4762020-2024	+0.005	Within the margin of error	46%
Median household income	$27,1372015-2019	$49,5312020-2024	+83%	Within the margin of error	97%
Poverty rate	31.7%2015-2019	31.8%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Rent-burdened households	66.2%2015-2019	47.8%2020-2024	−18 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.1%2015-2019	24.8%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Within the margin of error	3%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bamberg, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bamberg, 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.

For comparison, Bamberg, South Carolina itself moved +10.4 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

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).

Age and sex

2,996 residents (±16)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,129 households (±149)

Bamberg, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k42%†473
$25k–50k8.2%†93
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,129 households (±149)

Bamberg, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own66%744
Rent34%385

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

807 workers (±199)

Bamberg, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone70%†563
Carpool21%†166
Public transit

Local 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.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bamberg County, the county holding most of Bamberg's residents.

Bamberg County has 248 employer establishments, 191 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.84× South Carolina's), with 2,387 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,817. The Census Bureau also counts 908 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 248; 908 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 191; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 2,387
Average annual pay: $40,817; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bamberg County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	27	20.8	3.75×More than typical	73	$13,699	—
Restaurants and other eating places	19	14.7	0.80×Fewer than typical	204	$16,725	6
Ambulatory health care services	15	11.6	0.56×Fewer than typical	170	$59,741	43
Gasoline stations	13	10	3.09×More than typical	59	$34,186	—
Limited-service restaurants	12	9.3	1.15×About typical	152	$16,270	—
General merchandise stores	8	6.2	3.49×Too few to compare	79	$16,759	4
Banks and credit unions	7	5.4	1.67×Too few to compare	73	$56,137	—
Health and personal care stores	7	5.4	2.04×Too few to compare	62	$40,339	8
Full-service restaurants	6	4.6	0.60×Too few to compare	52	$16,404	3
Grocery and convenience stores	6	4.6	1.56×Too few to compare	91	$24,198	—
Legal services	6	4.6	0.86×Too few to compare	36	$62,667	5
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	5	3.9	0.95×Too few to compare	18	$27,222	10

Rank places for an industry Open Bamberg County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 12,964 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $178.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bamberg, South Carolina: $59.49 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $178.2K; +2.5% vs FY2025
Per resident: $59.49; US $1,995
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management$178.2K100%

Top recipients

HERITAGE SERVICES CORPORATION$178.2K100%

Spending by fiscal year

184.5KFY2017
302.6KFY2018
121KFY2019
230.7KFY2020
229.5KFY2021
221.3KFY2022
224.5KFY2023
221.2K

Top industries (NAICS)

Technical and trade schools · 6115$178.2K100%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bamberg, South Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Bamberg, South Carolina's figures are part of those of Bamberg County, SC ($6.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 2.6% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bamberg is mostly in Bamberg County.

See federal money in Bamberg County

Representation 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.

Bamberg, South Carolina is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

James E. ClyburnD-SC-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 1.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bamberg County6100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Bamberg County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

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
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

JSON · /api/v1/places/4503790

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends