Watts MillsSC
A town of 1,942.
Is Watts Mills a good place to live?
Watts Mills’ best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for health. Only 13 of South Carolina’s 263 towns score lower on health. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. Of the 170 South Carolina towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Watts Mills. Watts Mills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Watts Mills stand out
Where Watts Mills beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| Widest gap | Watts Mills | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 26.9% | 11.8% |
99% of working residents leave Watts Mills for work
Where Watts Mills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Watts Mills grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Watts Mills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Watts Mills: who provides what
Watts Mills is unincorporated, so Laurens 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 Watts Mills.
Watts Mills stands out in South Carolina and nationally: a larger share of its adults say their health is fair or poor
36% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Watts Mills, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 23% and U.S. towns at 19%. 20% of adults report frequent physical distress in Watts Mills. Only 8 of the 170 South Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Watts Mills.
| Watts Mills | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 23% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 28% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 21% | 14% |
| What stands out | Watts Mills | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6% | 8.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 26.9% | 11.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Public schools in Watts Mills fall behind 76% of South Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Laurens 55 school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 423 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Watts Mills has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Most working residents leave Watts Mills for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Watts Mills has lost 315 jobs, to 43 in 2023. 8.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Watts Mills, against 17% in South Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
| Watts Mills | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 8.7% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.7% | 6.1% | 8% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Low risk in Watts Mills, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Watts Mills has mild winters and hot summers
Watts Mills has mild winters and warm summers. The July high in Watts Mills is 91°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median home in Watts Mills sells for about $175K
42% of Watts Mills households own their home.
| Watts Mills | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $817 a month | $1,060 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Watts Mills
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Watts Mills
About 3 of every 100 Watts Mills residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
About Watts Mills
Census-designated place in South Carolina, United States
Wattsville is an unincorporated community in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The town name is derived from Watts Mill, a textile mill in the center of town. The area is listed as the Wattsville census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. The population of the CDP was 1,635 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.3 sq mi
Watts Mills’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Watts Mills.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watts Mills | — | — | A | — | C− | D− |
| Laurens | #143 | D | B+ | D | C− | C− |
Watts Mills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Watts Mills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Watts Mills with a neighbor →
Questions about Watts Mills
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Watts Mills, SC expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $108,000, 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 A.