Town · Anderson County, South Carolina

Pelzer, South Carolina

Pelzer is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, part of the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC metro area. It has 1,722 residents. Pelzer, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,824 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #161 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), mammography screening (high) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on time spent in the emergency room (high), firearm deaths (high) and suicide rate (high).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,824 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Carolina: #161 of 268 in SC
Population: 1,722 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,688.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 4555465

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety5#14,776/15,637
Economy20#12,483/15,631
Housing44#8,455/14,977
Health14#13,467/15,609
Healthcare33#10,533/15,650
Environment61#6,035/15,453
Education51#7,650/15,649
Infrastructure21#12,337/15,650
Community32#10,683/15,651
Leisure & amenities29#11,182/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Pelzer, South Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Anderson 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 · low0.31%
97/100South Carolina 0.49%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Mammography screening · high58.0%
97/100South Carolina 51.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAnderson County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100South Carolina 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAnderson County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAnderson County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100South Carolina 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAnderson County value
Comfortable days · high30.0%
78/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAnderson County value

Weaknesses

Time spent in the emergency room · high246 min
4/100South Carolina 163 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAnderson County value
Firearm deaths · high25.8 /100k
5/100South Carolina 18.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAnderson County value
Suicide rate · high23.9 /100k
11/100South Carolina 16.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAnderson County value
Poverty rate · high26.9%
11/100South Carolina 13.3%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Drug overdose deaths · high27.7 /100k
12/100South Carolina 22.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataAnderson County value
Child poverty rate · high46.1%
13/100South Carolina 18.1%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,360 (2015-2019) → 1,722 (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
26.8% (2015-2019) → 46.1% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
7.5% (2015-2019) → 24.1% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.7× (2015-2019) → 3.1× (2020-2024)
+79%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Poverty rateWorsening
13.9% (2015-2019) → 26.9% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
33.1% (2015-2019) → 45.2% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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

Improved1

Household income+45%$40,000 → $58,134

Declined1

Price / income+1.4×1.7× → 3.1×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Pelzer, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.0 min2015-2019	29.9 min2020-2024	−0.1 min	Within the margin of error	48%
Broadband subscriptions	75.5%2015-2019	70.6%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Child poverty rate	26.8%2015-2019	46.1%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	5%
High school diploma or higher	78.1%2015-2019	78.6%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	12%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3482015-2019	0.3062020-2024	−0.042	Within the margin of error	80%
Median household income	$40,0002015-2019	$58,1342020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	13.9%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	33.1%2015-2019	45.2%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.6%2015-2019	12.3%2020-2024	−3.4 points	Within the margin of error	79%

“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 Pelzer, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Pelzer, 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, Pelzer, South Carolina itself moved −10.7 points in standing on average over the same 7 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

1,722 residents (±473)

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

762 households (±311)

Pelzer, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k20%†151
$25k–50k20%†155
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

762 households (±311)

Pelzer, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own76%†581
Rent24%†181

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

579 workers (±145)

Pelzer, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone78%453
Carpool15%†89
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 Anderson County, the county holding most of Pelzer's residents.

Anderson County has 4,160 employer establishments, 194 for every 10,000 residents (0.78× the US rate of 248; 0.85× South Carolina's), with 71,264 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,865. The Census Bureau also counts 17,251 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 4,160; 17,251 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 194; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 71,264
Average annual pay: $49,865; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	368	17.2	0.94×About typical	6,892	$18,136	98
Specialty trade contractors	300	14	0.90×About typical	2,053	$54,869	1,335
Ambulatory health care services	299	14	0.67×Fewer than typical	3,160	$66,014	715
Religious organizations	221	10.3	1.86×More than typical	1,477	$21,246	—
Full-service restaurants	170	7.9	1.03×About typical	3,087	$20,251	40
Limited-service restaurants	167	7.8	0.97×About typical	3,354	$16,270	41
Services to buildings and dwellings	137	6.4	0.95×About typical	1,464	$30,323	1,449
Lessors of real estate	134	6.3	0.51×Fewer than typical	305	$44,098	1,428
Building equipment contractors	122	5.7	0.95×About typical	944	$55,041	322
Gasoline stations	115	5.4	1.66×More than typical	896	$28,684	6
Automotive repair and maintenance	106	4.9	0.98×About typical	573	$45,623	344
Construction of buildings	102	4.8	0.63×Fewer than typical	562	$62,831	619

Rank places for an industry Open Anderson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 214,149 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Anderson 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.

Pelzer, 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.

Anderson County43100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC60

Other cities and towns in Anderson 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/4555465

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends