Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
This town in South Carolina has a population of 5,462.
Homes are affordable here, though not without reasons. Its best grade is for cost of living: a typical home costs about $303K, 4.3 years of the Greenville metro’s $71K median household income. With a B− overall, Piedmont sits 55th of 167 in South Carolina. On that grade it does better than 53% of U.S. towns. Incomes are its weak spot: the median household income is $53K, and a quarter of residents live below the poverty line. It also trails on walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than just over four fifths of U.S. towns. Piedmont Mill Stores Building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Piedmont beats most towns.
Where Piedmont’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 Piedmont is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,684 in 2000, 5,411 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1907 and 2 maps from 1957 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Piedmont. Close and well known come first.
22 mi Stadium & arenaMemorial Stadium, Clemson
27 mi LakeLake Hartwell
25 mi LakeLake Keowee
31 mi LakeLake Jocassee
11 mi Stadium & arenaBon Secours Wellness Arena
27 mi State parkTable Rock State ParkMemorial Stadium, Clemson: Caseyh at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Hartwell: blahedo, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Lake Keowee: Inundated_38Oc1.jpg: Matthew T. Bradley from Berkshire County, Mass., USA deriva, CC BY 2.0 · Lake Jocassee: Clemson3564, Public domain · Bon Secours Wellness Arena: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, CC BY 2.0 · Table Rock State Park: Clemson3564, CC BY 3.0
Piedmont is unincorporated, so Anderson 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Piedmont.
Piedmont 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; it also has poverty well above the South Carolina rate.
Against the 6,712 U.S. towns with household incomes like Piedmont’s, it is healthier than 51%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
In Piedmont, 28% of adults get no exercise outside work. Piedmont: 27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression, above both the South Carolina town median (23%) and the median of U.S. towns (23%). 16% of adults in Piedmont report frequent physical distress; 19% report frequent mental distress.
| Piedmont | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Piedmont | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.6% | 13.9% |
| More smokers | 16.6% | 13.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.3% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 551 in 2013 to 895.
The median commute is under 12 miles. Piedmont: a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, against 17% in South Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Commuting out is the norm here: 2% of working residents work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 344, to 895.
| Piedmont | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.8% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $53,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Piedmont after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in just over two thirds of U.S. communities.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The W Pelzer weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 219 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 79% of South Carolina places with climate records. The W Pelzer weather station records that about 51 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 80% of South Carolina places with climate records.
In Piedmont, the peak summer temperature is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
70.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 52.1% across South Carolina.
The rent at the middle of the market in Piedmont is $749 a month. Zillow values the typical Piedmont home at about $303,000, up 2.1% in a year, close to the South Carolina typical home. Homes sold in Piedmont spent a median 65 days on the market.
| Piedmont | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $749 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Just 5 of its 5,590 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Piedmont itself; its outdoors grade is D.
Trails run 0.3 miles in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Piedmont Riverfront Park, at 29 acres. Parks and preserves in the town: 2, covering 34 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Piedmont Riverfront Park | — | 29 |
| 2. Thomas C Pack Jr Memorial Park | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Piedmont
About 4 of every 100 Piedmont residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
3 notable people were born in Piedmont.
CDP in South Carolina, United States
Piedmont is a census-designated place (CDP) along the Saluda River in Anderson and Greenville counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 5,411 at the 2020 census. Piedmont is a part of the Greenville-Anderson metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Piedmont.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piedmont | #55 | B− | A | — | A | C− |
| Golden Grove | #39 | B | B+ | — | A | C− |
Piedmont and Golden Grove report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Piedmont with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Piedmont grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #55 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C− for health and A for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
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.
Piedmont has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 3 notable people were born here, including Corinne Boyd Riley and Joe Hooper.
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