WhitneySC
A town of 3,685, settled in 1890.
Is Whitney a good place to live?
Whitney is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 92nd among South Carolina's 167 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: homes are within reach, about $157K for a typical one, or 2.4 years of the Spartanburg metro’s $64K median household income. Its lowest everyday mark is in health: CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 84% of the country. On hazard risk, just 22 of South Carolina’s 263 towns do better.
What makes Whitney stand out
Where Whitney beats most towns.
98% of working residents leave Whitney for work
Where Whitney’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Whitney grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Whitney is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Whitney: who provides what
Whitney 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 Whitney.
Whitney is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of South Carolina.
For health, Whitney earns a C−
Against the 6,224 U.S. towns with household incomes like Whitney’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults 18 to 64 in Whitney, the share who have no health insurance is 18%. In Whitney, a quarter of adults worry about having enough food, above both the South Carolina town median (21%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). Two figures for adults here: 36% feel lonely, 32% get no exercise outside work. Against the South Carolina average, Whitney comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 16.
| Whitney | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 21% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Whitney | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 8.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 17.6% | 11.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Whitney faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected losses in Whitney break down as 55% from inland flooding and 11% from earthquakes. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage here than in 80% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
With only 0.7 jobs per working resident, most people in Whitney work out of town
Jobs based here grew from 815 in 2013 to 1,330.
Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Whitney rose by 515, to 1,330. Only 2% of working residents stay in Whitney for work; the rest commute out. The average commute for Whitney comes to 21 minutes, against 24 minutes in South Carolina’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Its typical household income is $51,000.
| Whitney | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 6.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect mild winters and hot summers in Whitney
The Spartanburg 3 Sse weather station, 5 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 89.5°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 87% of South Carolina places with climate records; January nights average 31.3°.
Its typical July afternoon high stands at 90°F. Snow is a rarity.
| Whitney | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 31°F | 34°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A home in Whitney sells for about $154K at the median
At 2.4 years of the Spartanburg metro’s $64K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 84% of South Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living.
Among households in Whitney, 61% own their home. Its midpoint rent comes in at $1,051 a month.
| Whitney | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,051 a month | $1,062 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Peachoid and 16 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Whitney. Close and well known come first.
15 mi LandmarkPeachoid
28 mi Stadium & arenaBon Secours Wellness Arena
12 mi National BattlefieldCowpens National Battlefield175K visitors a year
36 mi State parkChimney Rock State Park
30 mi National Military ParkKings Mountain National Military Park176K visitors a year
35 mi National Historic SiteCarl Sandburg Home National Historic Site95K visitors a yearPhoto 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 · Kings Mountain National Military Park: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Victoria Stauffenberg, Public domain
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Everything we know about Whitney
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Whitney
About 6 of every 100 Whitney residents are enrolled in college, about the same as South Carolina.
About Whitney
Census-designated place in South Carolina, United States
Whitney is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to the city of Spartanburg in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census with a population of 4,409.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 768 ft
Whitney’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Whitney.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitney | #92 | C | B | — | B | C− |
| Spartanburg | #117 | C− | C+ | — | B | C− |
| Drayton | — | — | B | — | B | C− |
| Hilltop | #101 | C | B− | — | B | D |
| Valley Falls | #36 | B | C+ | — | A+ | B− |
Drayton has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Whitney, Spartanburg, Drayton, Hilltop and Valley Falls report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Whitney with a neighbor →
Questions about Whitney
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Whitney, SC a good place to live?
Whitney grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #92 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C− for health and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Whitney, SC expensive?
The typical home is worth about $157,000, 48% 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.