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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in South Carolina

9 persistent-poverty counties

South Carolina has 9 persistent-poverty counties and 20 nonmetro counties — home to 260,452 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 14.2% and child poverty is 19.7%.

9

Persistent-poverty counties

20

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

260K

Residents in PPCs

46

Total counties

South Carolina by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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South Carolina at a glance

Poverty rate

14.2%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

19.7%

Under 18

PPC share

19.6%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

43.5%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

1.52

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.24

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides South Carolina's 79 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 46 in South Carolina.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Barnwell 0.68
  2. 2 Allendale 0.67
  3. 3 Lee 0.66
  4. 4 Hampton 0.64
  5. 5 Dillon 0.60

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Dillon 29.2%
  2. 2 Barnwell 28.5%
  3. 3 Marion 27.3%
  4. 4 Allendale 26.5%
  5. 5 Marlboro 26.2%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Dillon 29.2%
  2. 2 Barnwell 28.5%
  3. 3 Marion 27.3%
  4. 4 Allendale 26.5%
  5. 5 Marlboro 26.2%

Every county in South Carolina

All 46 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Abbeville 6 — Pop. loss 14.1% 22.4% 24,352 0.24
Aiken 2 — — 13.9% 18.6% 171,949 0.09
Allendale 8 Yes Low emp., Pop. loss, Housing 26.5% 28.7% 7,738 0.67
Anderson 2 — — 14.4% 21.3% 207,218 0.10
Bamberg 9 — Pop. loss 21.6% 26.1% 13,164 0.39
Barnwell 8 Yes Pop. loss 28.5% 49.4% 20,565 0.68
Beaufort 3 — Housing, Retire. 10.5% 18.4% 192,123 0.12
Berkeley 2 — Retire. 10.3% 14.5% 238,723 0.08
Calhoun 2 — Pop. loss 16.3% 25.0% 14,150 0.10
Charleston 2 — Housing, Retire. 11.6% 15.9% 414,711 0.08
Cherokee 6 — — 18.5% 28.8% 56,299 0.26
Chester 1 — Pop. loss 19.3% 28.5% 32,177 0.08
Chesterfield 6 — Low ed. 20.2% 27.3% 43,575 0.27
Clarendon 8 — — 18.5% 26.3% 31,037 0.34
Colleton 6 — — 18.7% 24.9% 38,623 0.26
Darlington 3 — — 20.3% 32.2% 62,754 0.16
Dillon 6 Yes Low ed. 29.2% 43.3% 28,031 0.60
Dorchester 2 — — 11.5% 16.6% 164,322 0.08
Edgefield 2 — Low emp. 16.4% 22.5% 26,508 0.10
Fairfield 2 — — 16.9% 25.3% 20,741 0.11
Florence 3 — — 18.3% 24.4% 136,921 0.15
Georgetown 4 — Retire. 14.4% 26.1% 64,200 0.17
Greenville 2 — — 11.0% 14.8% 537,575 0.08
Greenwood 4 — — 17.1% 25.7% 69,329 0.18
Hampton 8 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 20.0% 26.6% 18,555 0.64
Horry 2 — Retire. 12.8% 19.7% 368,937 0.09
Jasper 3 — Housing, Retire. 18.3% 26.5% 30,658 0.15
Kershaw 2 — — 14.1% 21.0% 66,924 0.09
Lancaster 1 — Retire. 12.3% 15.0% 100,905 0.05
Laurens 2 — — 17.6% 24.9% 67,904 0.11
Lee 8 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 23.3% 36.4% 16,330 0.66
Lexington 2 — — 11.4% 15.2% 300,370 0.08
Marion 6 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss 27.3% 41.7% 28,900 0.60
Marlboro 6 Yes Low emp., Low ed. 26.2% 32.3% 26,285 0.59
McCormick 8 — Low emp., Retire. 18.0% 39.5% 9,701 0.33
Newberry 6 — — 16.0% 25.9% 38,121 0.25
Oconee 4 — Retire. 16.4% 22.9% 79,566 0.18
Orangeburg 4 Yes — 23.9% 34.5% 83,531 0.51
Pickens 2 — — 17.2% 15.6% 132,604 0.11
Richland 2 — Housing 16.9% 22.5% 418,725 0.11
Saluda 2 — — 19.4% 26.0% 18,958 0.12
Spartanburg 2 — — 14.5% 19.5% 338,096 0.10
Sumter 3 — — 16.4% 19.8% 104,853 0.14
Union 2 — Pop. loss 22.7% 38.4% 26,990 0.13
Williamsburg 6 Yes Low ed., Pop. loss, Housing 23.6% 28.5% 30,517 0.58
York 1 — — 8.9% 11.3% 288,559 0.04

Find a food pantry in South Carolina

Search South Carolina's 79 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

South Carolina pantry directory

South Carolina SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

South Carolina SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

South Carolina food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology