Scores by category

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

Safety5#14,910/15,637
Economy14#13,480/15,631
Housing44#8,423/14,977
Health22#12,101/15,609
Healthcare56#6,812/15,650
Environment61#6,031/15,453
Education27#11,459/15,649
Infrastructure26#11,655/15,650
Community62#5,876/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,183/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Mammography screening · high57.0%
96/100South Carolina 51.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value
Primary care physicians · high124 /100k
94/100South Carolina 68 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.2×
87/100South Carolina 3.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Social associations · high13.4 /10k
84/100South Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value
Comfortable days · high30.6%
81/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGreenwood County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100South Carolina 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesGreenwood County value

Weaknesses

Firearm deaths · high28.8 /100k
3/100South Carolina 18.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGreenwood County value
Suicide rate · high27.4 /100k
6/100South Carolina 16.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGreenwood County value
Homicide rate · high9.4 /100k
10/100South Carolina 8.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataGreenwood County value
Premature death · high12,464 /100k
11/100South Carolina 10,517 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value
Reading scores · low2.73
11/100South Carolina 2.93United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value
Math scores · low2.64
11/100South Carolina 2.92United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreenwood County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,918 (2015-2019) → 2,521 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
25.8% (2015-2019) → 54.9% (2020-2024)
+29 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
23.0% (2015-2019) → 35.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
High school diploma or higherImproving
82.5% (2015-2019) → 92.2% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.8% (2015-2019) → 84.3% (2020-2024)
+7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
18.0% (2015-2019) → 23.9% (2020-2024)
+5.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Ninety Six, South Carolina improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Ninety Six, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.0%2015-2019	23.9%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Broadband subscriptions	76.8%2015-2019	84.3%2020-2024	+7.5 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Child poverty rate	35.7%2015-2019	34.6%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	0.80%2015-2019	0.67%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	43%
High school diploma or higher	82.5%2015-2019	92.2%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	2.2×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	55%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4162015-2019	0.4132020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	53%
Median household income	$50,4002015-2019	$55,4172020-2024	+10%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	18.3%2015-2019	22.6%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Rent as share of income	23.0%2015-2019	35.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.8%2015-2019	11.3%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	22%

“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 Ninety Six, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ninety Six, 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, Ninety Six, South Carolina itself moved −7.2 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

2,521 residents (±717)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 10–19 women (+8.4 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

2,521 residents (±717)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

White75%†1,880
Black22%†564
Hispanic or Latino0.9%†

Education

1,596 residents (±436)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

No high school diploma7.8%†125
High school or GED27%†434
Some college23%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

1,023 households (±263)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k25%†258
$25k–50k17%†172
$50k–75k24%†250
$75k–100k10%†105
$100k–150k17%†169
$150k–200k4.5%†46
$200k or more2.2%†23

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−15.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,023 households (±263)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own69%702
Rent31%†321

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

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

301 households (±156)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $75032%†95
$750–1,00036%†109
$1,000–1,50032%†

Home values

702 homes (±210)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $150k64%†446
$150k–250k18%†127
$250k–400k17%†

Age of homes

1,125 homes (±268)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

2010 or later9.8%†110
2000–20095.7%†64
1980–19993.6%†

Size of homes

1,125 homes (±268)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom3.7%†42
2 bedrooms37%†417

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

935 workers (±363)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone96%†895
Carpool1.8%†17
Public transit1.0%†9
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home1.3%†12
Other0.2%†2

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (+14.0 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

923 workers (±364)

Ninety Six, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under 15 min27%†246
15–29 min51%†467
30–44 min7.3%†67

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Greenwood, 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 Greenwood County, the county holding most of Ninety Six's residents.

Greenwood County has 1,354 employer establishments, 194 for every 10,000 residents (0.78× the US rate of 248; 0.85× South Carolina's), with 23,577 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,574. The Census Bureau also counts 4,879 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,354; 4,879 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 194; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 23,577
Average annual pay: $44,574; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	120	17.2	0.94×About typical	2,920	$16,818	32
Ambulatory health care services	91	13.1	0.63×Fewer than typical	1,389	$59,271	235
Religious organizations	83	11.9	2.15×More than typical	424	$18,953	—
Specialty trade contractors	77	11.1	0.71×Fewer than typical	654	$51,112	301
Limited-service restaurants	62	8.9	1.11×About typical	1,583	$16,338	10
Full-service restaurants	50	7.2	0.93×About typical	1,229	$17,444	17
Gasoline stations	44	6.3	1.95×More than typical	257	$27,957	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	37	5.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	199	$38,915	529
Lessors of real estate	34	4.9	0.40×Fewer than typical	124	$42,677	406
Building equipment contractors	32	4.6	0.76×Fewer than typical	292	$50,034	58
Automotive repair and maintenance	30	4.3	0.86×About typical	149	$40,121	107
Clothing and accessories stores	30	4.3	1.19×About typical	273	$16,385	54

Rank places for an industry Open Greenwood County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 69,634 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 Ninety Six, South Carolina: $0 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $2,007
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.7%

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

STEVEN CAMERON$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

8.1KFY2017
10.1KFY2018
150.5FY2019
5.7KFY2020
2.3KFY2021
5.4KFY2022
1.7KFY2023
865.9FY2025
0

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 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 Ninety Six, South Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Ninety Six, South Carolina's figures are part of those of Greenwood County, SC ($1.1M 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: Ninety Six is mostly in Greenwood County.

See federal money in Greenwood 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.

Ninety Six, 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.

Greenwood County37100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Greenwood, SC24

Other cities and towns in Greenwood 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/4550290