Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Beech Island’s best subject grades are a B+ for cost of living and a B for schools; its weakest is a D for incomes. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in Beech Island, above both South Carolina’s towns (17%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). On hazard risk, just 8 of South Carolina’s 263 towns do better. Beech Island has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Redcliffe and Zubly Cemetery. Beech Island has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Beech Island beats most towns.
Where Beech Island’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Beech Island is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2017 and 3 maps from 1965 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beech Island is unincorporated, so Aiken 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Beech Island.
Most working residents leave Beech Island for work: only 3% work in town. Beech Island’s average trip to work is 29 minutes, above both the South Carolina town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Since 2013, Beech Island has added 1,299 jobs, to 1,826 in 2023.
| Beech Island | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.9% | 6.1% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Beech Island beats the South Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 43% of adults have high blood pressure in Beech Island.
| Beech Island | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 40% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Beech Island | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 82.6% | 80.2% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.4% | 17.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 82% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Beech Island’s July high is 93°F. Beech Island has mild winters and hot summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
76% of Beech Island households own their home.
| Beech Island | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 76% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,207 a month | $1,060 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Beech Island. Close and well known come first.
14 mi LandmarkFort Gordon
5 mi Stadium & arenaJames Brown Arena
6 mi MuseumMeadow Garden
6 mi MuseumMorris Museum of Art120K visitors a yearin town MuseumBeech Island Historical Society
6 mi GardenAugusta Botanical GardensFort Gordon: U.S. Army Cyber Command, Public domain · James Brown Arena: Thomson200, CC0 · Meadow Garden: Flickr user Sir Mildred Pierce, CC BY 2.0 · Morris Museum of Art: Thomson200, CC0 · Augusta Botanical Gardens: Liam Wolff (Ospr3yy at en.wikipedia), FAL
6 within 15 miles of the center of Beech Island
About 5 of every 100 Beech Island residents are enrolled in college, about the same as South Carolina.
4 places in Beech Island on the National Register of Historic Places.
Unincorporated community in South Carolina, US
Beech Island is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 1,421.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Beech Island.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $117,000, 62% below the South Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
