Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,344, settled in 1873.
Liberty gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $272K for a typical one, or 3.8 years of the Greenville metro’s $71K median household income. It grades B overall, ranked 40th of 167 in South Carolina. On the plus side, its public schools beat 76% of South Carolina towns on state tests and graduation. Only 21 of South Carolina’s 263 towns score higher on hazard risk. Liberty's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 97% of U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Liberty beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty Elementary | 3–5 | 470 |
| Liberty Middle | 6–8 | 458 |
| Liberty High | 9–12 | 640 |
Where Liberty’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 Liberty is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 149 in 1880, 3,366 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Liberty. Close and well known come first.
11 mi Stadium & arenaMemorial Stadium, Clemson
36 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
11 mi LakeLake Keowee
17 mi LakeLake Jocassee
24 mi LakeLake Hartwell
40 mi National forestPisgah National ForestMemorial Stadium, Clemson: Caseyh at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lake Keowee: Inundated_38Oc1.jpg: Matthew T. Bradley from Berkshire County, Mass., USA deriva, CC BY 2.0 · Lake Jocassee: Clemson3564, Public domain · Lake Hartwell: blahedo, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Liberty, 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 Liberty.
Liberty pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of South Carolina.
Its A− for schools comes with an A for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $272K.
Its public schools are run by the Pickens 01 school district. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Liberty High, with 640 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 470 | C+ |
| Liberty HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 640 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Liberty for work: only 3% work in town. 22% of Liberty residents live below the poverty line, against 17% in South Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. The median household income in Liberty is $42,000.
| Liberty | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Pickens weather station, 6 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 216 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 86% of South Carolina places with climate records. The Pickens weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 49 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 83% of South Carolina places with climate records.
Liberty has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. At 89°F, Liberty’s July high is where South Carolina’s towns sit at 91°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 3,106 U.S. towns with household incomes like Liberty’s, it is healthier than 85%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Liberty beats the South Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 25% of Liberty adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Liberty | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 23% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Liberty | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.7% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 43% in five years, to about $272K, against 24% across South Carolina.
Liberty’s median rent is $687 a month. Typical home values rose 4.6% in the year to September 2026. 79% of households own their home in Liberty.
| Liberty | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $687 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Among 90 South Carolina towns, just 8 have a lower property crime rate than Liberty. Within South Carolina, it does better than 81% of towns.
| Liberty | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.7 per 1,000 residents | 21.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 4.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Liberty | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Liberty High School Football Stadium | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Liberty
About 4 of every 100 Liberty residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
2 places in Liberty on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in South Carolina, United States
Liberty is a city in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Liberty had a population of 3,366. It is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley metropolitan area. The city was chartered on March 2, 1876.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Liberty grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #40 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and A− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Within South Carolina, it does better than 81% of towns.
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.
2 notable people were born here, including Fred Chapman and William A. McWhorter.
