DentsvilleSC
A town of 15,209, settled in 1901.
Is Dentsville a good place to live?
Dentsville grades C+ overall, 69th of 167 graded towns in South Carolina, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. On the other side, CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 76% of the country. 39% of households own their home in Dentsville, below both the South Carolina town median (65%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%).
What makes Dentsville stand out
Where Dentsville beats most towns.
How Dentsville grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Dentsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Dentsville: who provides what
Dentsville 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 Dentsville.
Dentsville is healthier than towns with similar incomes and is mostly renters, but it has little public open land.
More of Dentsville’s adults sleep under 7 hours than in the typical South Carolina or U.S. town
Against the 4,170 U.S. towns with household incomes like Dentsville’s, it is healthier than 65%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
46% of Dentsville adults sleep under 7 hours. Dentsville beats the South Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 13% of Dentsville adults binge drink.
| Dentsville | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 38% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 21% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 40% | 35% |
| What stands out | Dentsville | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.1% | 8.6% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 13.3% | 15.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 16% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Dentsville’s schools rank ahead of 73% of South Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Richland 02 school district. One of its 5 schools is below, with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is SC Whitmore School, with 431 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| E. L. Wright MiddleLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 1,275 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Inland flooding leads a low hazard risk in Dentsville
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 2006, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dentsville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dentsville has mild winters and hot summers
Dentsville has mild winters and hot summers. The July high in Dentsville is 93°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in three of Dentsville’s working residents commute to Columbia
Most working residents leave Dentsville for work: only 4% work in town. Dentsville’s median household income is $45,000. Jobs based in Dentsville fell to 7,265 in 2023, 1,023 fewer than in 2013.
| Dentsville | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $45,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.5% of Dentsville is conserved land
Just 21 of its 4,309 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Dentsville itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
1.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Dentsville | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Richland County Tennis Center | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 2. Sesquicentennial State Park | 0.1 mi | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Williams-Brice Stadium and 7 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dentsville. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Stadium & arenaWilliams-Brice Stadium2 mi LakeAlcohol and Drug Abuse Lake
17 mi National ParkCongaree National Park288K visitors a year
21 mi LakeLake Murray
7 mi Stadium & arenaColonial Life Arena
8 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 Dentsville
Colleges nearby
7 within 15 miles of the center of Dentsville
About 6 of every 100 Dentsville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as South Carolina.
About Dentsville
Census-designated place in South Carolina, United States
Dentsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Richland County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 14,062 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 233 ft
Dentsville’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Dentsville.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Woodfield (C+) comes closest.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dentsville | #69 | C+ | C+ | — | B+ | C− |
| Columbia | #124 | C− | C | D | B | B− |
| Forest Acres | #103 | C | C | D | C | A |
| Woodfield | #85 | C+ | B− | — | B+ | C− |
| Arcadia Lakes | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Dentsville and Woodfield report no FBI crime data of their own. Arcadia Lakes isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Dentsville with a neighbor →
Questions about Dentsville
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Dentsville, SC a good place to live?
Dentsville grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #69 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C− for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Dentsville, SC expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.