Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,320, settled in 1849.
Walhalla gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $227K, 3.6 years of the Seneca area’s $62K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 80th among South Carolina's 167 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $36K, and 46% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 91% of the country. 46% of residents live below the poverty line in Walhalla, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On safety, just 10 of South Carolina’s 107 towns do better. Walhalla has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Stumphouse Tunnel Complex and St. John's Lutheran Church.
Where Walhalla beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 716 in 1870, 4,072 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1902 and 2 maps from 1959 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Walhalla is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Walhalla, 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 Walhalla.
Walhalla fares better on crime within South Carolina than nationally, draws workers from Seneca and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
2,819 jobs are based in Walhalla, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Walhalla for work: only 11% work in town. Walhalla’s average trip to work is 32 minutes. Jobs based in Walhalla fell to 2,819 in 2023, 457 fewer than in 2013.
| Walhalla | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $36,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 6.1% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Oconee 01 school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walhalla MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 857 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Against the 1,480 U.S. towns with household incomes like Walhalla’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
21% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Walhalla. Walhalla beats the South Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 35% of adults get no exercise outside work in Walhalla.
| Walhalla | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 8.1% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 28% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Walhalla | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20.6% | 11.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.2% | 13.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 25.6% | 17.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median rent in Walhalla is $669 a month. The typical Walhalla home is worth about $227,000, up 3.9% in a year, 25% below the South Carolina typical home. 57% of Walhalla households own their home.
| Walhalla | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $669 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 57% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Walhalla | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 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. Sertoma Field | 0.9 mi | 17 |
| 2. Disc Golf Course | 0.1 mi | 7 |
| 3. City Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Walhalla weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 203 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 97% of South Carolina places with climate records. The Walhalla weather station records that about 44 days a year reach 90°: more than most of the country, but fewer than 91% of South Carolina places with climate records.
Walhalla has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 31° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Walhalla since 1994.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 16.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 91% of South Carolina’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 64 to 17 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
No town among the 90 in South Carolina we compare has a lower property crime rate than Walhalla. Walhalla reports less crime per resident than 55% of the U.S. towns and cities we grade. Among 90 South Carolina towns, just 4 have a lower violent crime rate than Walhalla.
| Walhalla | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 21.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 4.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Walhalla. Close and well known come first.
14 mi Stadium & arenaMemorial Stadium, Clemson
36 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
25 mi MountainCurrahee Mountain
10 mi LakeLake Keowee
15 mi LakeLake Jocassee
24 mi LakeLake HartwellMemorial Stadium, Clemson: Caseyh at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Currahee Mountain: Wikilackey (talk), 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
1 within 15 miles of the center of Walhalla
About 1 of every 100 Walhalla residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
Where Walhalla’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Walhalla on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Walhalla.
City in South Carolina, United States
Walhalla is a city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. Designated in 1868 as the county seat, it lies within the area of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, an area of transition between mountains and piedmont, and contains numerous waterfalls. It is located 16 miles (26 km) from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. This European-American city was founded in 1850, long after the Indian Removal of the Cherokee in 1838. Early residents were predominantly German immigrants who had been refugees from the German revolutions of 1848-1849. Some English and Scotch-Irish farmers also settled here. During the Reconstruction era, when Oconee C…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Walhalla.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walhalla | #80 | C+ | A | B | B+ | D |
| West Union | — | — | — | — | — | — |
West Union isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Walhalla with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Walhalla grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #80 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades D for health, B for safety and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
6 notable people were born here, including John C. Portman Jr. and Del Pratt.
