Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Woodruff gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $282K, 4.4 years of the Spartanburg metro’s $64K median household income. It grades B overall, 37th among South Carolina's 167 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. On history, just 15 of South Carolina’s 263 towns do better. Woodruff's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns. 54% of households own their home in Woodruff, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 65% and U.S. towns at 73%.
Where Woodruff beats most towns.
First Presbyterian Church of WoodruffWhere Woodruff’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Woodruff is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 254 in 1880, 4,212 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 2010 and 3 maps from 1957 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Woodruff, 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 Woodruff.
Woodruff has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of South Carolina; it also has little public open land.
33% of adults get no exercise outside work in Woodruff. Woodruff beats the South Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 16% of adults have diabetes in Woodruff.
| Woodruff | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 28% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 12% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 8.1% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 40% | 35% |
| What stands out | Woodruff | SC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.6% | 13.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 15.9% | 11.8% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.2% | 17.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Spartanburg 04 school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodruff PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 776 | – |
| Woodruff HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 844 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Woodruff for work: only 5% work in town. Woodruff’s average trip to work is 28 minutes. The top destinations are Greenville (10%), Spartanburg (8%) and Mauldin (3%).
| Woodruff | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $71,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.4% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 32.2°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 78% of South Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 90.4°.
Woodruff has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Woodruff is 32°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Woodruff | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 32°F | 34°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 91°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Woodruff's reported crime rate is close to South Carolina's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 18 violent crimes were reported in 2024.
| Woodruff | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 20.9 per 1,000 residents | 27.7 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 4.8 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
The typical Woodruff home is worth about $282,000, up 1.2% in a year, 7% below the South Carolina typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Just 13 of its 4,917 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Woodruff itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.7 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Woodruff | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. McKinney Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Woodruff
About 0 of every 100 Woodruff residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
2 places in Woodruff on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Woodruff.
City in South Carolina, United States
Woodruff is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,333 at the 2020 census. The city is part of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Woodruff grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #37 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C− for health and B+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
5 notable people were born here, including Ken Harrelson and Mike Page.
