Pickens County, South Carolina Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Pickens 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 Pickens County, South Carolina. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Pickens County, South Carolina. The estimated population of Pickens County, South Carolina is 129,617 people, with a median age of 36.4.

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

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
129,617
+3.38%
+6.73%
2020
125,381
+1.09%
-
2019
124,029
+1.05%
-
2018
122,746
+1.07%
-
2017
121,449
 - -

Population of Pickens 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
85.2%
86.1%
 -1.05%
Black/African American
6.3%
6.5%
 -3.08%
Native
0.1%
0.2%
 -50.00%
Hispanic
4%
3.5%
 +14.29%
Asian
1.8%
1.8%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0.1%
 -100.00%
Two Or More Races
2.6%
1.6%
 +62.50%
Other
0.1%
0.2%
 -50.00%

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 Pickens 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 36.4 0% 34.2 +0.59% 37.7 -0.53%
2020 36.4 +0.55% 34 +0.29% 37.9 -0.26%
2019 36.2 0% 33.9 0% 38 -1.04%
2018 36.2 0% 33.9 0% 38.4 -0.26%
2017 36.2 - 33.9 - 38.5 -

The median age of Pickens 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 6,418 +7.91% 6,446 -9.92% 6,931 5,824
10 to 19 9,319 +5.6% 8,339 +11.99% 9,843 9,385
20 to 29 11,893 +5.63% 10,678 +6.22% 12,575 11,353
30 to 39 6,137 +20.25% 6,150 +15.38% 7,458 7,148
40 to 49 7,250 -7.41% 7,271 -3.73% 6,687 6,981
50 to 59 7,735 +8.09% 8,282 -6.65% 8,379 7,728
60 to 69 6,064 +7.69% 6,792 +15.41% 6,513 7,892
70+ 5,542 +17.78% 7,133 +15.85% 6,593 8,327

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Pickens County, South Carolina is $53,188.00.

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 Pickens County.

  • Under 25
    $20,658.00
  • 25 to 44
    $64,432.00
  • 45 to 64
    $67,682.00
  • 65 and over
    $41,111.00

Average Household Income

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

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Pickens 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 Pickens County, South Carolina is currently $74,074.00.

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.

4.45% of households in Pickens 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 Pickens County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    24.13%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    23.33%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.48%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.30%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13.82%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.48%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.45%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Pickens County is $29,218.00.

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

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Pickens 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 Pickens 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
    14.21%
  • Bachelor's degree
    27.17%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.37%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    42.98%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.26%

Employment

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

The total population of Pickens County over the age of 16 is 107,945.

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 Pickens County is 55.50%.

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 10,311 31.40% 15.20%
20 to 24 years 15,311 67.00% 5.60%
25 to 29 years 8,617 77.80% 4.60%
30 to 34 years 7,001 82.80% 3.70%
35 to 44 years 13,884 81.40% 3.30%
45 to 54 years 15,114 79.70% 3.80%
55 to 59 years 8,382 68.70% 2.80%
60 to 64 years 7,778 53.60% 1.80%
65 to 74 years 12,865 22.00% 2.80%
75 years and over 8,682 7.00% 3.60%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Pickens 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 94,584 57.20% 4.10%
Black or African American 7,212 68.90% 8.50%
American Indian and Alaska Native 102 79.40% 0.00%
Asian 1,949 57.10% 1.80%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 23 100.00% 0.00%
Other 1,325 65.90% 6.80%
Two or more races 2,750 54.70% 3.60%
Hispanic or Latino 3,681 71.60% 3.10%
Not Hispanic or Latino 93,026 57.00% 4.10%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Pickens 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 Pickens County is 59,910, with median earnings of $31,921.00.

Women in Pickens County, South Carolina earning approximately 67.70% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 59,910 $31,921.00
Male 32,171 $39,875.00
Female 27,739 $26,993.00

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 5,703 $53,678.00
Business and Financial 2,001 $59,982.00
Computer and Mathematical 994 $81,211.00
Architecture and Engineering 1,361 $64,234.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 496 $34,625.00
Community and Social Service 1,320 $45,207.00
Legal 464 $88,405.00
Educational and Library 5,571 $35,146.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 1,059 $18,581.00
Healthcare Practitioners 4,120 $52,102.00
Healthcare Support 1,828 $19,425.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 708 $29,051.00
Law Enforcement 475 $44,825.00
Food Preparation and Serving 3,910 $11,793.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 2,432 $25,258.00
Personal Care and Service 1,591 $12,872.00
Sales 5,499 $28,304.00
Office and Administrative Support 5,254 $30,281.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 96 $31,250.00
Construction and Extraction 3,199 $27,274.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,760 $41,556.00
Production 5,101 $38,278.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,831 $32,532.00

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 3,409 $59,628.00 2,294 $50,161.00
Business and Financial 894 $68,827.00 1,107 $52,946.00
Computer and Mathematical 701 $80,750.00 293 $83,451.00
Architecture and Engineering 1,249 $66,458.00 112 $43,125.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 316 $32,292.00 180 $43,500.00
Community and Social Service 615 $46,517.00 705 $43,006.00
Legal 235 $88,790.00 229 $49,005.00
Educational and Library 2,082 $39,274.00 3,489 $33,518.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 541 $42,847.00 518 $11,275.00
Healthcare Practitioners 875 $53,582.00 3,245 $51,604.00
Healthcare Support 263 $29,542.00 1,565 $17,966.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 672 $28,969.00 36 $63,400.00
Law Enforcement 360 $50,417.00 115 $43,555.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,385 $9,210.00 2,525 $12,849.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,739 $29,240.00 693 $17,357.00
Personal Care and Service 227 $7,386.00 1,364 $13,063.00
Sales 2,979 $44,651.00 2,520 $15,435.00
Office and Administrative Support 986 $33,587.00 4,268 $30,008.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 72 $43,125.00 24 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 3,155 $27,390.00 44 $21,458.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,522 $43,458.00 238 $28,535.00
Production 3,651 $44,813.00 1,450 $27,583.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,425 $34,364.00 406 $10,833.00

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 49,438 households in Pickens County, with an average household size of 2.49 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 31,340 families in Pickens County with an average family size of 3.01 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 24,555 2,222 4,563 18,098
Average Household Size 3.08 3.08 3.12 1.46
Total Families 24,555 2,222 4,563 0
Average Household Size 3.05 2.66 2.96 0

Poverty

Of the 31,340 families in Pickens County, 8.80% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Pickens 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 55,931 housing units in Pickens County, South Carolina.

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

Total Percentage
Occupied 49,438 88.39%
Vacant 6,493 11.61%

25.49% of the total 55,931 housing units in Pickens County are rental units. This is approximately 14,256 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 34,040 are occupied by the owner - or 60.86% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Pickens County is $842.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Pickens 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
    1,142
  • Less than $500
    1,631
  • $500 to $999
    7,992
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    3,147
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    912
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    315
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    136
  • $3,000 or more
    123

Property Value

The median value of a property in Pickens County is $166,800.00.

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

  • Less than $50,000
    3,766
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    4,369
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    6,218
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6,723
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    6,699
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    4,381
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    1,261
  • $1,000,000 or more
    623

Property Age

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

  • 1939 or earlier
    2,760
  • 1940 to 1949
    1,382
  • 1950 to 1959
    3,951
  • 1960 to 1969
    4,721
  • 1970 to 1979
    7,668
  • 1980 to 1989
    8,837
  • 1990 to 1999
    12,207
  • 2000 to 2009
    8,842
  • 2010 to 2013
    5,412
  • 2014 or later
    151

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 Pickens County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    3,280
  • 1 vehicle available
    13,727
  • 2 vehicles available
    17,541
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    14,890

Commuting to Work

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

26.4 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Pickens 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
    1,184
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    5,764
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    7,154
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    7,103
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    6,796
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    5,005
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    8,409
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    2,177
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    2,204
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    5,259
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,776
  • 90 or more minutes
    1,207

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Pickens 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 Pickens County, South Carolina

We have data for 13 places in Pickens County, South Carolina. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.