Kershaw County, South Carolina Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Kershaw County, South Carolina, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Kershaw County, South Carolina. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Kershaw County, South Carolina. The estimated population of Kershaw County, South Carolina is 64,989 people, with a median age of 41.1.

We can look at the total population in Kershaw County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
64,989
 -1.42% +1.97%
2020
65,926
+1.25%
-
2019
65,112
+1.17%
-
2018
64,361
+0.98%
-
2017
63,734
 - -

Population of Kershaw County, South Carolina by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
68%
69.1%
 -1.59%
Black/African American
23.2%
23.9%
 -2.93%
Native
0%
0.2%
 -100.00%
Hispanic
4.9%
4.1%
 +19.51%
Asian
0.5%
0.5%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.2%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.8%
2%
 +40.00%
Other
0.4%
0.2%
 +100.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Kershaw County, South Carolina by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 41.1 -0.48% 40.3 0% 42.5 -0.47%
2020 41.3 +0.49% 40.3 +1.26% 42.7 -0.47%
2019 41.1 -1.44% 39.8 -0.75% 42.9 -1.15%
2018 41.7 -0.24% 40.1 +0.25% 43.4 +0.46%
2017 41.8 - 40 - 43.2 -

The median age of Kershaw County, South Carolina gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 3,770 +13.46% 3,533 -9.67% 4,286 3,187
10 to 19 4,811 -12.35% 4,201 +10.76% 4,238 4,668
20 to 29 3,666 -6.82% 3,628 -5.04% 3,407 3,442
30 to 39 3,195 +18.63% 3,418 +25.57% 3,830 4,374
40 to 49 4,008 -1.26% 4,590 -14.13% 3,956 3,972
50 to 59 4,403 -2.32% 4,937 -8.95% 4,297 4,498
60 to 69 4,084 +8.19% 4,466 +4.34% 4,423 4,659
70+ 2,940 +15.22% 4,084 +6.35% 3,403 4,349

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Kershaw County, South Carolina is $56,449.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Kershaw County.

  • Under 25
    $38,955.00
  • 25 to 44
    $58,624.00
  • 45 to 64
    $63,824.00
  • 65 and over
    $45,430.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Kershaw County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Kershaw County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Kershaw County, South Carolina is currently $69,490.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

3.33% of households in Kershaw County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Kershaw County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    23.17%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    21.27%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    20.31%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.10%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    15.44%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.39%
  • $200,000 or more
    3.33%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Kershaw County is $27,730.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Kershaw County by the total population of Kershaw County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Kershaw County, South Carolina, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Kershaw County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    11.44%
  • Bachelor's degree
    22.48%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    10.70%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    51.86%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.52%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Kershaw County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Kershaw County over the age of 16 is 51,873.

Of those people, a total of 58.10% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Kershaw County is 53.90%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 3,263 30.40% 24.80%
20 to 24 years 3,224 74.50% 11.90%
25 to 29 years 3,625 81.20% 9.50%
30 to 34 years 3,918 78.30% 6.70%
35 to 44 years 8,110 85.20% 3.70%
45 to 54 years 8,500 76.40% 3.30%
55 to 59 years 4,399 68.80% 3.60%
60 to 64 years 4,866 46.20% 3.40%
65 to 74 years 7,437 24.00% 0.80%
75 years and over 4,531 6.20% 0.70%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Kershaw County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 36,545 58.80% 4.40%
Black or African American 12,556 54.40% 9.30%
American Indian and Alaska Native 23 21.70% 40.00%
Asian 305 57.00% 6.90%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 53 100.00% 0.00%
Other 1,484 57.40% 9.90%
Two or more races 907 80.00% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 2,193 55.10% 8.00%
Not Hispanic or Latino 35,881 58.90% 4.40%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Kershaw County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Kershaw County is 27,977, with median earnings of $38,032.00.

Women in Kershaw County, South Carolina earning approximately 75.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 27,977 $38,032.00
Male 14,609 $42,991.00
Female 13,368 $32,323.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 2,720 $62,395.00
Business and Financial 1,285 $52,235.00
Computer and Mathematical 647 $59,583.00
Architecture and Engineering 565 $54,803.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 246 $51,429.00
Community and Social Service 648 $39,353.00
Legal 212 $50,063.00
Educational and Library 1,480 $45,638.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 320 $32,292.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,679 $52,388.00
Healthcare Support 747 $21,720.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 481 $35,527.00
Law Enforcement 588 $42,984.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,185 $12,235.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,334 $19,742.00
Personal Care and Service 587 $16,652.00
Sales 2,397 $22,819.00
Office and Administrative Support 3,179 $34,790.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 161 $6,750.00
Construction and Extraction 1,571 $38,813.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 1,332 $52,772.00
Production 2,371 $38,375.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,164 $30,898.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 1,440 $68,672.00 1,280 $46,818.00
Business and Financial 426 $74,257.00 859 $46,932.00
Computer and Mathematical 506 $60,109.00 141 $54,926.00
Architecture and Engineering 420 $72,698.00 145 $29,863.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 139 $38,208.00 107 $65,250.00
Community and Social Service 198 $65,192.00 450 $37,879.00
Legal 43 $41,146.00 169 $50,469.00
Educational and Library 243 $47,292.00 1,237 $45,410.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 169 $36,827.00 151 $22,428.00
Healthcare Practitioners 350 $47,769.00 1,329 $56,678.00
Healthcare Support 165 $22,330.00 582 $21,235.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 460 $35,820.00 21 $27,188.00
Law Enforcement 581 $43,125.00 7 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 473 $10,250.00 712 $13,632.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 937 $23,107.00 397 $18,071.00
Personal Care and Service 109 $6,686.00 478 $18,398.00
Sales 1,134 $34,167.00 1,263 $17,772.00
Office and Administrative Support 506 $45,385.00 2,673 $33,188.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 66 $43,448.00 95 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 1,483 $39,361.00 88 $12,292.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 1,317 $53,179.00 15 $0.00
Production 1,705 $46,106.00 666 $28,715.00
Transportation and Material Moving 897 $32,318.00 267 $21,608.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 24,901 households in Kershaw County, with an average household size of 2.6 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 17,209 families in Kershaw County with an average family size of 3.2 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 12,605 1,234 3,370 7,692
Average Household Size 3.17 2.91 3.67 1.14
Total Families 12,605 1,234 3,370 0
Average Household Size 3.17 2.7 3.48 0

Poverty

Of the 17,209 families in Kershaw County, 12.20% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Kershaw County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 28,835 housing units in Kershaw County, South Carolina.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 24,901 86.36%
Vacant 3,934 13.64%

13.55% of the total 28,835 housing units in Kershaw County are rental units. This is approximately 3,907 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 20,318 are occupied by the owner - or 70.46% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Kershaw County is $770.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Kershaw County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    676
  • Less than $500
    419
  • $500 to $999
    2,690
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    728
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    13
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    10
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    0
  • $3,000 or more
    47

Property Value

The median value of a property in Kershaw County is $150,200.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Kershaw County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    2,385
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    4,091
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    3,661
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    3,839
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    3,646
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    1,913
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    584
  • $1,000,000 or more
    199

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Kershaw County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Kershaw County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    1,130
  • 1940 to 1949
    591
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,854
  • 1960 to 1969
    2,544
  • 1970 to 1979
    4,139
  • 1980 to 1989
    4,473
  • 1990 to 1999
    6,027
  • 2000 to 2009
    5,377
  • 2010 to 2013
    2,624
  • 2014 or later
    76

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Kershaw County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    910
  • 1 vehicle available
    6,753
  • 2 vehicles available
    9,858
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    7,380

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Kershaw County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Kershaw County that commute to work in a particular way.

28.4 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Kershaw County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    949
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    1,774
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    2,529
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    3,586
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    3,129
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    1,380
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    5,652
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    1,235
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    1,147
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    3,406
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,274
  • 90 or more minutes
    519

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Kershaw County, South Carolina in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Kershaw County, South Carolina

We have data for 12 places in Kershaw County, South Carolina. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.