Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Greenwood earns a D, ranked 140th of 167 in South Carolina, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its crime rate is higher than 93% of U.S. towns, with 114 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $41K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. 28% of working residents work locally in Greenwood, above both the South Carolina town median (6.1%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Greenwood has 12 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Stony Point and Vance-Maxwell House. Only 9 of the 169 South Carolina towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Greenwood.
Where Greenwood beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
J. Wesley Brooks House
Census counts: 941 in 1850, 22,545 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1896 and 3 maps from 1892 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Greenwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Greenwood, 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Greenwood.
Greenwood draws workers from Abbeville and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings.
15,090 jobs are based in Greenwood, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.9 minutes, against 25.6 across South Carolina.
About one in 4 of Greenwood’s working residents works in town. 3% of Greenwood workers work from home. Jobs based in Greenwood grew to 15,090 in 2023, 1,353 more than in 2013.
| Greenwood | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3% | 8.8% | 11% |
| Median household income | $41,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Greenwood 50 school district. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westview MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 692 | C+ |
| Emerald HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 887 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 1,040 to 843 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Greenwood’s property crime rate is 32.1 per 1,000 residents. Greenwood reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less. Greenwood’s violent crime rate is 5 per 1,000 residents.
| Greenwood | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 32.1 per 1,000 residents | 21.1 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5 per 1,000 residents | 3.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 2,726 U.S. towns with household incomes like Greenwood’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
Greenwood beats the South Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 30% of adults worry about having enough food in Greenwood.
| Greenwood | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 21% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Greenwood | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.8% | 8.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.7% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
9.0 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. Grace Street Park, at 57 acres with 3.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Greenwood | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grace Street Park | 3.9 mi | 57 |
| 2. West Cambridge Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 3. Magnolia Park | 0.2 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Greenwood home is worth about $190,000, about the same as a year ago, 38% below the South Carolina typical home. The median rent in Greenwood is $839 a month.
| Greenwood | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $839 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1998, 22 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Greenwood.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Greenwood has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 34° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2 within 15 miles of the center of Greenwood
About 13 of every 100 Greenwood residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
12 places in Greenwood on the National Register of Historic Places.
47 notable people were born in Greenwood.
City in South Carolina, United States
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, South Carolina. The population in the 2020 United States census was 22,545, down from 23,222 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Lander University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Greenwood grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #140 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades D for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Within South Carolina, it does better than 38% of towns.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($52,860 across the Greenwood, SC area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
47 notable people were born here, including Allisha Gray and Grainger Hines.
