JoannaSC
A town of 1,306, settled in 1948.
Is Joanna a good place to live?
The best of Joanna’s subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for walkability. 11% of residents are under 18 in Joanna, against 22% in South Carolina’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. No town in South Carolina scores higher than Joanna on cost of living. The median household income is $49K, and 20% of residents live below the poverty line. Joanna has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Joanna stand out
Where Joanna beats most towns.
1,306 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Joanna grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Joanna is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Joanna: who provides what
Joanna is unincorporated, so Laurens 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 Joanna.
The median rent in Joanna is lower than in most of South Carolina or the rest of the country
Joanna’s median rent is $625 a month, where South Carolina’s towns sit at $1,060 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. The typical Joanna home is worth about $129,000, up 3% in a year, 58% below the South Carolina typical home.
| Joanna | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $625 a month | $1,060 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 65% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Joanna’s public schools trail 59% of South Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Laurens 56 school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joanna-Woodson ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 293 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
A smaller share of working residents in Joanna work locally than in the typical South Carolina or U.S. town
Only 1 of the 170 South Carolina towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Joanna. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Joanna. The top destinations are Clinton (11%), Greenville (6%) and Laurens (5%).
| Joanna | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 6.1% | 8% |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Low risk in Joanna, with cold waves at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Joanna has mild winters and hot summers
Joanna has mild winters and warm summers. Joanna’s July high is 91°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Joanna is less healthy than 51% of U.S. towns
Joanna beats the South Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 33% of Joanna adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Joanna | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 38% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 37% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 21% | 14% |
| What stands out | Joanna | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.2% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6% | 6.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Joanna | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.4% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joanna's Park | 0.5 mi | 8 |
| 2. Blalock Memorial Veterans Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Joanna
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Joanna
About 1 of every 100 Joanna residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
99% of working residents leave Joanna for work
Where Joanna’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Questions about Joanna
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Joanna, 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+.