Town · Hampton County, South Carolina

Varnville, South Carolina

Varnville is a town in Hampton County, South Carolina. It has 2,571 residents. Varnville, South Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 3 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,148 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Carolina it ranks #250 of 268 cities and towns. It ranks best on grocery stores (high), comfortable days (high) and home price to income ratio (low). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), job growth (low) and arts, entertainment and recreation (low).

3Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,148 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Carolina: #250 of 268 in SC
Population: 2,571 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 670.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 4573600

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety1#15,495/15,637
Economy8#14,306/15,631
Housing35#9,751/14,977
Health9#14,227/15,609
Healthcare15#13,344/15,650
Environment33#10,331/15,453
Education30#11,007/15,649
Infrastructure2#15,358/15,650
Community25#11,676/15,651
Leisure & amenities15#13,309/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Grocery stores · high2.8 /10k
92/100South Carolina 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHampton County value
Comfortable days · high33.4%
91/100South Carolina 31.6%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHampton County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.1×
89/100South Carolina 3.7×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100South Carolina 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHampton County value
Pharmacies · high2.2 /10k
81/100South Carolina 2.1 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHampton County value
Public libraries · high1.1 /10k
78/100South Carolina 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHampton County value

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high20.3 /100k
1/100South Carolina 8.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataHampton County value
Job growth · low-5.5%
1/100South Carolina 0.7%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHampton County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.6 /10k
1/100South Carolina 5.1 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHampton County value
Traffic deaths · high46.0 /100k
2/100South Carolina 20.5 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataHampton County value
Broadband subscriptions · low73.6%
3/100South Carolina 88.8%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Premature death · high16,009 /100k
3/100South Carolina 10,517 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHampton County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,854 (2015-2019) → 2,571 (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
39.5% (2015-2019) → 73.2% (2020-2024)
+34 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
29.5% (2015-2019) → 8.0% (2020-2024)
−22 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,352 (2015-2019) → $55,714 (2020-2024)
+62%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
26.6% (2015-2019) → 37.9% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Unemployment rateWorsening
4.2% (2015-2019) → 14.5% (2020-2024)
+10 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, Varnville, South Carolina improved on 1 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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+62%$34,352 → $55,714

Declined1

Rent / income+11 points26.6% → 37.9%

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Varnville, South Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.3 min2015-2019	29.0 min2020-2024	+2.7 min	Within the margin of error	22%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.9%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Broadband subscriptions	71.8%2015-2019	73.6%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Effective property tax rate	1.03%2015-2019	0.72%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
High school diploma or higher	91.7%2015-2019	92.6%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	91%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3672015-2019	0.4602020-2024	+0.092	Within the margin of error	6%
Median household income	$34,3522015-2019	$55,7142020-2024	+62%	Improved	92%
Rent as share of income	26.6%2015-2019	37.9%2020-2024	+11 points	Declined	8%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.3%2015-2019	7.8%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Within the margin of error	93%

“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 Varnville, South Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Varnville, 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, Varnville, South Carolina itself moved −10.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,571 residents (±585)

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

840 households (±150)

Varnville, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Under $25k25%†206
$25k–50k21%†173
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

840 households (±150)

Varnville, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Own64%539
Rent36%†301

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

1,035 workers (±262)

Varnville, South Carolina
South Carolina share

Drive alone75%773
Carpool19%†198
Public transit0.0%0

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 Hampton County, the county holding most of Varnville's residents.

Hampton County has 318 employer establishments, 175 for every 10,000 residents (0.70× the US rate of 248; 0.77× South Carolina's), with 3,261 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,368. The Census Bureau also counts 1,483 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 318; 1,483 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 175; US 248 · South Carolina 228
Paid employees: 3,261
Average annual pay: $45,368; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	25	13.7	0.75×Fewer than typical	296	$14,618	15
Specialty trade contractors	24	13.2	0.85×About typical	130	$42,877	109
Legal services	18	9.9	1.84×More than typical	75	$135,653	8
Religious organizations	18	9.9	1.78×More than typical	45	$17,267	—
Gasoline stations	16	8.8	2.71×More than typical	164	$27,604	—
Limited-service restaurants	16	8.8	1.10×About typical	217	$14,558	—
Ambulatory health care services	15	8.2	0.40×Fewer than typical	75	$63,427	110
Construction of buildings	12	6.6	0.87×About typical	61	$61,213	48
Services to buildings and dwellings	12	6.6	0.98×About typical	41	$39,488	200
Truck transportation	11	6	1.20×About typical	133	$68,985	87
Building equipment contractors	9	4.9	0.82×Too few to compare	62	$45,871	22
General merchandise stores	9	4.9	2.80×Too few to compare	79	$18,405	3

Rank places for an industry Open Hampton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 18,195 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 Varnville, South Carolina: $0 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $0
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

Spending by fiscal year

5.1KFY2018
126.1FY2020
138.1FY2021

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 Varnville, South Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Varnville, South Carolina's figures are part of those of Hampton County, SC ($2.7M 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: Varnville is mostly in Hampton County.

See federal money in Hampton 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.

Varnville, 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.

Hampton County3100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Hampton 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/4573600

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends