City · Laurens County, South Carolina

Laurens, South Carolina

Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, part of the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC metro area. It has 9,336 residents. Laurens, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 5 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,872 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #241 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), students per teacher (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), firearm deaths (high) and reading scores (low).

5Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,872 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Carolina: #241 of 268 in SC
Population: 9,336 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 911.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 4540615

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 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.

Safety3#15,173/15,637
Economy25#11,706/15,631
Housing29#10,680/14,977
Health9#14,279/15,609
Healthcare22#12,279/15,650
Environment51#7,534/15,453
Education12#13,823/15,649
Infrastructure11#13,977/15,650
Community28#11,337/15,651
Leisure & amenities4#15,001/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Laurens, South Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Laurens 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 · low0.41%
93/100South Carolina 0.49%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Students per teacher · low11.3×
92/100South Carolina 13.8×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsLaurens County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low118 min
88/100South Carolina 163 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesLaurens County value
Mammography screening · high53.0%
85/100South Carolina 51.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLaurens County value
Unemployment rate · low1.9%
84/100South Carolina 4.5%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Child care cost burden · low23.5%
82/100South Carolina 28.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLaurens County value

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high16.0 /100k
2/100South Carolina 8.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLaurens County value
Firearm deaths · high29.0 /100k
3/100South Carolina 18.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLaurens County value
Reading scores · low2.62
5/100South Carolina 2.93United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLaurens County value
Traffic deaths · high32.3 /100k
6/100South Carolina 20.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataLaurens County value
Broadband subscriptions · low82.2%
6/100South Carolina 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Life expectancy · low71.8 yrs
7/100South Carolina 75.1 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLaurens County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
8,867 (2015-2019) → 9,336 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
64.7% (2015-2019) → 82.2% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
New homes permittedWorsening
3.0 /1k (2021) → 1.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−68%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.3× (2015-2019) → 3.7× (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
49.0% (2015-2019) → 58.5% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Unemployment rateImproving
7.8% (2015-2019) → 1.9% (2020-2024)
−5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Laurens, South Carolina improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 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.

Improved1

Broadband+18 points64.7% → 82.2%

Declined1

Price / income+1.4×2.3× → 3.7×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Laurens, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.2 min2015-2019	20.9 min2020-2024	−0.3 min	Within the margin of error	52%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%2015-2019	13.9%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	64.7%2015-2019	82.2%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	86%
Child poverty rate	39.2%2015-2019	42.4%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Effective property tax rate	0.54%2015-2019	0.41%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
High school diploma or higher	78.9%2015-2019	81.1%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	3.7×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	12%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4792015-2019	0.4472020-2024	−0.032	Within the margin of error	75%
Median household income	$40,7382015-2019	$49,2462020-2024	+21%	Within the margin of error	35%
Poverty rate	26.2%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Rent as share of income	29.2%2015-2019	33.7%2020-2024	+4.5 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Rent-burdened households	49.0%2015-2019	58.5%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.1%2015-2019	13.7%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	28%

“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 Laurens, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Laurens, 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, Laurens, South Carolina itself moved −6.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

9,336 residents (±27)

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

3,925 households (±323)

Laurens, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k22%878
$25k–50k29%1,121
$50k–75k21%†814

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,925 households (±323)

Laurens, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own46%1,823
Rent54%2,102

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

3,691 workers (±445)

Laurens, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone78%2,877
Carpool16%†601
Public transit0.0%0

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 Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC

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 Laurens County, the county holding most of Laurens's residents.

Laurens County has 985 employer establishments, 142 for every 10,000 residents (0.57× the US rate of 248; 0.62× South Carolina's), with 17,683 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,505. The Census Bureau also counts 4,981 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 985; 4,981 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 142; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 17,683
Average annual pay: $46,505; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	80	11.6	2.08×More than typical	295	$18,322	—
Restaurants and other eating places	75	10.8	0.59×Fewer than typical	1,405	$15,703	28
Specialty trade contractors	67	9.7	0.63×Fewer than typical	531	$53,610	425
Gasoline stations	46	6.6	2.05×More than typical	272	$29,496	4
Ambulatory health care services	43	6.2	0.30×Fewer than typical	354	$53,523	155
Limited-service restaurants	40	5.8	0.72×Fewer than typical	963	$15,940	10
Full-service restaurants	32	4.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	429	$15,427	16
Building equipment contractors	29	4.2	0.70×Fewer than typical	300	$58,667	87
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	24	3.5	2.17×More than typical	550	$63,813	15
General merchandise stores	24	3.5	1.96×More than typical	520	$25,960	26
Lessors of real estate	24	3.5	0.28×Fewer than typical	26	$46,577	283
Services to buildings and dwellings	24	3.5	0.51×Fewer than typical	219	$35,950	640

Rank places for an industry Open Laurens County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 69,208 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Laurens, South Carolina: $0 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,995
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

8.7KFY2017
12KFY2018
2.8KFY2019
75.1KFY2021
177.8KFY2022
20.3KFY2023

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 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 Laurens, South Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Laurens, South Carolina's figures are part of those of Laurens County, SC ($1.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Laurens 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.

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

House

Sheri BiggsR-SC-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.0%

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.

Laurens County20100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC60

Other cities and towns in Laurens 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
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

JSON · /api/v1/places/4540615

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends