ArthurtownSC
A town of 3,272.
Is Arthurtown a good place to live?
Arthurtown gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $120K for a typical one, or 1.8 years of the Columbia metro’s $68K median household income. It grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $21K, and 63% of residents live below the poverty line. Arthurtown is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among South Carolina’s towns. 63% of residents live below the poverty line in Arthurtown, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. No town among the 168 in South Carolina we compare has a lower median household income than Arthurtown. Arthurtown's public schools trail 71% of South Carolina towns on state tests and graduation.
What makes Arthurtown stand out
Where Arthurtown beats most towns.
Every workday, about 3,964 people come to Arthurtown for work
Where Arthurtown’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Arthurtown grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Arthurtown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Arthurtown: who provides what
Arthurtown is unincorporated, so Richland County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Arthurtown.
Arthurtown is shaped by its college students, has hotter summers than almost anywhere else in South Carolina and draws workers from Columbia and beyond.
About one in three of Arthurtown’s working residents commute to Columbia
3,974 jobs are based in Arthurtown, 5.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.5 minutes, against 25.6 across South Carolina.
Most working residents leave Arthurtown for work: only 1% work in town. Arthurtown’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. Since 2013, Arthurtown has added 561 jobs, to 3,974 in 2023.
| Arthurtown | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 6.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A larger share of adults report frequent mental distress in Arthurtown than in most of South Carolina or the rest of the country
Against the 91 U.S. towns with household incomes like Arthurtown’s, it is healthier than 91%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income. Within South Carolina it is less healthy than 54% of the 169 graded towns: much of South Carolina scores lower on these measures.
26% of Arthurtown adults report frequent mental distress. Only 1 of the 169 South Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who feel lonely than Arthurtown. 28% of Arthurtown adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Arthurtown | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 38% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 33% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 21% | 14% |
| What stands out | Arthurtown | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 2.4% | 8.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 17% | 28.5% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 23.9% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Arthurtown
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Arthurtown stands out in South Carolina and nationally: a typical July afternoon there is hotter
July afternoons average 93°, the #2 highest of 475 South Carolina places with climate records; January nights average 34.8°.
The July high in Arthurtown is 93°F. Arthurtown has mild winters and hot summers. The January low in Arthurtown is 35°F.
| Arthurtown | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 93°F | 91°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 34°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Williams-Brice Stadium and 7 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arthurtown. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaWilliams-Brice Stadium
12 mi National ParkCongaree National Park288K visitors a year9 mi LakeAlcohol and Drug Abuse Lake
20 mi LakeLake Murray
3 mi Stadium & arenaColonial Life Arena
5 mi Zoo & aquariumRiverbanks ZooPhoto credits
Williams-Brice Stadium: SRA MARVIN PRESTON, Public domain · Congaree National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Lake Murray: Greygh0st at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Colonial Life Arena: Dfscgt21, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Riverbanks Zoo: Carlo Giovannetti (Thief12), CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Arthurtown
Colleges nearby
7 within 15 miles of the center of Arthurtown
College town 56 of every 100 Arthurtown residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
About Arthurtown
Census-designated place in South Carolina, United States
Arthurtown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Richland County, South Carolina, United States. It was listed appeared as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. Its population in 2020 was 2,294.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 167 ft
Arthurtown’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Arthurtown.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthurtown | – | C+ | A+ | — | C | C |
| Columbia | #124 | C− | C | D | B | B− |
| Cayce | #130 | D | B | D | C | B− |
Arthurtown reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Arthurtown with a neighbor →
Questions about Arthurtown
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Arthurtown, SC a good place to live?
Arthurtown grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns. Arthurtown is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among South Carolina’s towns. It grades C for health and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Arthurtown, SC expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.