Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pickens gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $277K, 3.9 years of the Greenville metro’s $71K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 75th among South Carolina's 167 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, including 5 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, its public schools beat 76% of South Carolina towns on state tests and graduation. On history, just 21 of South Carolina’s 263 towns do better. Pickens’ average trip to work is 30 minutes, above both South Carolina’s towns (24 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 6 of the 169 South Carolina towns we compare have a lower July high than Pickens.
Where Pickens beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Old Pickens Jail| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hagood Elementary | PK–5 | 567 |
| Pickens Elementary | PK–5 | 493 |
| Pickens Middle | 6–8 | 566 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Pickens is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 212 in 1880, 3,388 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pickens. Close and well known come first.
30 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
16 mi Stadium & arenaMemorial Stadium, Clemson
12 mi LakeLake Keowee
13 mi LakeLake Jocassee
30 mi LakeLake Hartwell
33 mi National forestPisgah National ForestBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Memorial Stadium, Clemson: Caseyh at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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 Pickens, 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 Pickens.
Pickens 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.
Reported crimes fell from 192 to 64 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Pickens’ violent crime rate is 1.6 per 1,000 residents. Pickens reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less. Pickens’ property crime rate is 18.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Pickens | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 4.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 18.5 per 1,000 residents | 21.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $277K.
Its public schools are run by the Pickens 01 school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Pickens High, with 1,226 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hagood ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 567 | C+ |
| Pickens HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,226 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1995, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pickens.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Pickens weather station 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 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.
Pickens has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Pickens is 31°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Pickens for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Pickens has lost 181 jobs, to 1,872 in 2023. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Pickens.
| Pickens | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,423 U.S. towns with household incomes like Pickens’s, it is healthier than 70%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Pickens beats the South Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 13% of Pickens adults have diabetes.
| Pickens | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 12% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 23% | 23% |
| What stands out | Pickens | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 77.6% | 80.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 40% in five years, to about $277K, against 24% across South Carolina.
The typical Pickens home is worth about $277,000, up 3% in a year, 9% below the South Carolina typical home.
| Pickens | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $828 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 68% | 65% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.9 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Pickens Recreation Center, at 45 acres.
| Pickens | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pickens Recreation Center | 0.5 mi | 45 |
| 2. Jaycee Park | 0.1 mi | 16 |
| 3. Pickens Doodle Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Pickens
About 3 of every 100 Pickens residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
3 places in Pickens on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Pickens.
City in South Carolina, United States
Pickens, formerly called Pickens Courthouse, is a city in and the county seat of Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Pickens had a population of 3,388. Pickens changed its classification from a town to a city in 1998, but it was not reported to the Census Bureau until 2001. It was named after Andrew Pickens, an American revolutionary soldier and US Congressman for South Carolina. Pickens is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pickens grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #75 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Within South Carolina, it does better than 50% 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−.
10 notable people were born here, including George H. McKee and Elijah Webb Chastain.
