GastonSC
A town of 1,651, settled in 1892.
Is Gaston a good place to live?
Gaston’s best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D for safety. Gaston’s violent crime rate is 9.7 per 1,000 residents, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 4.1 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 89% of U.S. towns. No town in South Carolina scores lower than Gaston on civic life. Gaston has 1 place on the National Register. Gaston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Gaston stand out
Where Gaston beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Typical home value
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
How Gaston grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Gaston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Gaston: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gaston, and how to reach them.
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 Gaston.
Crime per resident in Gaston is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
At 26.1 per 1,000 residents, Gaston’s property crime rate is above both South Carolina’s towns (21.4) and U.S. towns (9.9).
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
On state tests, Gaston’s schools trail 93% of South Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Lexington 04 school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frances F. Mack IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–6 | Grades 5–6 | 515 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
On CDC estimates, Gaston is less healthy than 92% of U.S. towns
Gaston beats the South Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 19% of Gaston adults smoke cigarettes. Only 10 of the 170 South Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Gaston.
| Gaston | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 28% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 19% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 23% |
| What stands out | Gaston | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 8.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A typical Gaston home is worth about $150K
The typical Gaston home is worth about $150,000, down 1.2% in a year, 51% below the South Carolina typical home.
| Gaston | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $995 a month | $1,060 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 65% | 73% |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Gaston has mild winters and hot summers
Gaston has mild winters and hot summers. The July high in Gaston is 92°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
With 0.9 jobs for every working resident, most of Gaston’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Gaston for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Gaston has lost 464 jobs, to 513 in 2023. 18% of residents live below the poverty line in Gaston.
| Gaston | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 6.1% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Low risk in Gaston, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 64% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Gaston | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.4% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
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 Gaston. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Stadium & arenaWilliams-Brice Stadium
13 mi National ParkCongaree National Park288K visitors a year20 mi LakeAlcohol and Drug Abuse Lake
22 mi LakeLake Murray
13 mi Stadium & arenaColonial Life Arena
13 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 Gaston
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Gaston
About 3 of every 100 Gaston residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
About Gaston
Town in South Carolina, United States
Gaston is a town in Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Gaston had a population of 1,608. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 499 ft
- ZIP code
- 29053
- Area code
- 803
Gaston’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Gaston.
Gaston has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Swansea isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Gaston with a neighbor →
Questions about Gaston
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Gaston, 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.