Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,733, settled in 1902.
The best of Ware Shoals’ subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for incomes. 38% of residents live below the poverty line in Ware Shoals, against 17% in South Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On incomes, just 19 of South Carolina’s 261 towns do worse. Residents are less healthy than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Ware Shoals's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Ware Shoals Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ware Shoals has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Ware Shoals beats most towns.
2,170 counted in 2010 and 1,701 in 2020; an estimated 1,733 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Ware Shoals is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1910.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ware Shoals, 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 Ware Shoals.
Among adults in Ware Shoals, 39% have obesity, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 37% and U.S. towns at 35%. 19% of Ware Shoals adults smoke cigarettes. In Ware Shoals, a quarter of adults worry about having enough food, and 26% say their health is fair or poor.
| Ware Shoals | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 21% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 23% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Ware Shoals | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.8% | 13.9% |
| More smokers | 19.4% | 13.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.9% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its two schools are below. Public schools: the Greenwood 51 school district. The 2 public schools in Ware Shoals teach 503 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ware Shoals Elementary MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 238 | C |
| Ware Shoals HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 265 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Ware Shoals’ going rate for rent stands at $859 a month. Home values are down 6.2% over the year to September 2026. Among households locally, 69% own their home.
| Ware Shoals | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $859 a month | $1,060 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The share of working residents in Ware Shoals who work locally: 2.5%. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in the town rose by 129, to 376. Ware Shoals’ typical household income is $37,000. The top destinations are Greenwood (17%), Abbeville (4%) and Greenville (3%).
| Ware Shoals | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $37,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 6.1% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 33° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
37% of Ware Shoals’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 28%. Compared with 67% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is lower. Federal aid has come to Ware Shoals households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Ware Shoals's reported crime rate is above South Carolina's. The violent crime rate for Ware Shoals comes to 8.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Ware Shoals | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 8.2 per 1,000 residents | 4.6 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 20 per 1,000 residents | 27.4 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
There are 0.8 miles of trail across 5 parks and preserves. For Ware Shoals, the trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Ware Shoals | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Youngs Park | 0.4 mi | 14 |
| 2. Irvin Pitts Park | — | 3 |
| 3. Pine Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Ware Shoals
About 1 of every 100 Ware Shoals residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
Where Ware Shoals’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 notable people were born in Ware Shoals.
Town in South Carolina, United States
Ware Shoals is a town in Abbeville, Greenwood, and Laurens counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, along the Saluda River. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,701. The Greenwood County portion of Ware Shoals is part of the Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Laurens County portion is part of the Greenville-Mauldin-Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Jerry Butler and Martha G. Scott.
