Southern ShopsSC
It is a town of 3,797 residents in South Carolina. A regional job hub with 5,920 jobs.
Is Southern Shops a good place to live?
The picture is mixed. Southern Shops’s overall grade, C−, puts it better than nearly a quarter of U.S. towns. That places it 111th of 167 in South Carolina. Health is its weak spot: on CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. It lags on incomes as well: the median household income is $38K, and 43% of residents live below the poverty line. On schools it is strong — its schools rank ahead of just over three quarters of South Carolina towns. Homes run about $110K for a typical one, 1.7 times the Spartanburg metro’s $64K median household income. This South Carolina town is home to Spartanburg Community College.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow.
What makes Southern Shops stand out
Where Southern Shops beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Jobs vs. working residents
| Widest gap | Southern Shops | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 34.3% | 11.8% |
Spartanburg Community College calls Southern Shops home
How Southern Shops grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Southern Shops is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 1%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Southern Shops: who provides what
Southern Shops is unincorporated, so Spartanburg 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 Southern Shops.
Southern Shops carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of South Carolina (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from Spartanburg and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
Compared with most of South Carolina and the rest of the country, more of Southern Shops’ adults say their health is fair or poor
Among adults in Southern Shops, 45% get no exercise outside work. Only one of the 169 South Carolina towns we compare has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Southern Shops. The share of adults in Southern Shops who report frequent mental distress is 22%, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 17%. No town among the 169 in South Carolina we compare has a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Southern Shops.
| Southern Shops | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 22% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Southern Shops | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 4.9% | 8.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 34.3% | 11.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Southern Shops’ schools beat 76% of South Carolina districts
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Spartanburg 06 school district. Southern Shops’ only public school teaches 336 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lone Oak ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 336 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
More of Southern Shops’ residents live below the poverty line than in the typical South Carolina or U.S. town
5,920 jobs are based in Southern Shops, 4.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The top destinations are Spartanburg (12%), Greenville (7%) and Boiling Springs (3%). Southern Shops’ median household income stands at $38,000, against $57,000 in South Carolina’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. In Southern Shops, the average commute is 22 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 8 miles.
| Southern Shops | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 43% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $38,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Southern Shops faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 99% of South Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $186 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Expected losses in Southern Shops break down as 42% from inland flooding and 19% from earthquakes. The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Southern Shops comes to 7 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Southern Shops has mild winters and hot summers
The Spartanburg 3 Sse weather station, 7 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 206 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 92% of South Carolina places with climate records. July afternoons average 89.4°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 88% of South Carolina places with climate records; January nights average 31.5°.
Southern Shops’ January low is 32°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Southern Shops | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 32°F | 34°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 91°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Southern Shops sell for about $220K
At 1.7 years of the Spartanburg metro’s $64K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 96% of South Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
For households in Southern Shops, the share who own their home is 50%. The typical rent locally is $1,058 a month.
| Southern Shops | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,058 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0% of Southern Shops is conserved land
Just 0 of its 2,276 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Southern Shops itself; its outdoors grade is D.
For Southern Shops, the concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. Trails run 0.2 miles in 1 park or preserve. This South Carolina town has one park or preserve, 2 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Campus Green | 0.2 mi | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Peachoid and 17 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Southern Shops. Close and well known come first.
19 mi LandmarkPeachoid
24 mi Stadium & arenaBon Secours Wellness Arena
14 mi National BattlefieldCowpens National Battlefield175K visitors a year
34 mi State parkChimney Rock State Park
32 mi National Historic SiteCarl Sandburg Home National Historic Site95K visitors a year
37 mi Park & preserveDuPont State ForestPhoto credits
Peachoid: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Bon Secours Wellness Arena: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, CC BY 2.0 · Cowpens National Battlefield: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain · Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Victoria Stauffenberg, Public domain · DuPont State Forest: Ccalvin, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Everything we know about Southern Shops
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Southern Shops
About 2 of every 100 Southern Shops residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
Every workday, about 5,828 people come to Southern Shops for work
Where Southern Shops’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Southern Shops’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Southern Shops.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Shops | #111 | C− | B | — | A− | D− |
| Valley Falls | #36 | B | C+ | — | A+ | B− |
| Arcadia | #112 | C− | B− | — | B− | C− |
| Hilltop | #101 | C | B− | — | B | D |
| Saxon | #102 | C | B+ | — | B− | D− |
Southern Shops, Valley Falls, Arcadia, Hilltop and Saxon report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Southern Shops with a neighbor →
Questions about Southern Shops
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Southern Shops, SC a good place to live?
Southern Shops grades C− overall, better than 24% of U.S. towns and #111 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades D− for health and A− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Southern Shops, SC expensive?
The typical home is worth about $110,000, 64% below the South Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.