Central vs Clemson

A side-by-side comparison of Central and Clemson: population, income, housing, and more.

Central and Clemson are places in South Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Clemson has the higher population (17,759 vs 5,299 in Central). Central has the higher median household income ($58,262 vs $49,713 in Clemson). Clemson has the higher median home value ($359,100 vs $228,500 in Central).

Population, income & housing

	Central	Clemson
Population	5,299	17,759
Median age	22.7 yrs	24.6 yrs
Median household income	$58,262	$49,713
Median home value	$228,500	$359,100
Median gross rent	$973	$972
Housing units	2,162	8,423
Homeownership rate	23.0%	35.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	48.6%	59.0%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Central	Clemson
Population	5,270 → 5,299 (+0.6%)	16,463 → 17,759 (+7.9%)
Median household income	$28,820 → $58,262 (+102.2%)	$43,568 → $49,713 (+14.1%)
Median home value	$108,700 → $228,500 (+110.2%)	$236,500 → $359,100 (+51.8%)
Median gross rent	$652 → $973 (+49.2%)	$928 → $972 (+4.7%)

Central

Population

5,2705,299

Median household income

$28,820$58,262

Median home value

$108,700$228,500

Median gross rent

$652$973

Clemson

Population

16,46317,759

Median household income

$43,568$49,713

Median home value

$236,500$359,100

Median gross rent

$928$972

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Central	Clemson
Under 5	8.9%	0.7%
5 to 17	10.8%	9.8%
18 to 24	35.0%	41.1%
25 to 34	15.4%	13.2%
35 to 44	10.9%	7.1%
45 to 54	9.8%	9.2%
55 to 64	3.0%	6.0%
65 to 74	2.8%	5.8%
75 and over	3.5%	7.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Central	Clemson
White (non-Hispanic)	64.7%	77.2%
Black or African American	7.3%	8.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	8.1%	5.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.3%
Two or more races	12.4%	5.6%
Hispanic or Latino	7.1%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Central	Clemson
No high school diploma	9.3%	5.5%
High school graduate	18.2%	13.2%
Some college or associate's	23.9%	22.3%
Bachelor's degree	32.0%	24.7%
Graduate or professional degree	16.5%	34.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Central	Clemson
Drove alone	78.7%	67.8%
Carpooled	7.1%	9.6%
Public transit	4.9%	5.2%
Walked	3.7%	5.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.6%
Worked from home	5.7%	9.6%
Other means	0.0%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Central	Clemson
1-unit, detached	33.4%	40.2%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	5.0%
2 to 4 units	12.4%	17.6%
5 to 19 units	41.4%	24.1%
20 or more units	5.6%	12.8%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Central	Clemson
Poverty rate	31.4%	36.1%
Average household size	2.59	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	19	20
Median year structure built	1993	1988