Central vs Pickens

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

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

Central has the higher population (5,299 vs 3,386 in Pickens). Pickens has the higher median household income ($58,534 vs $58,262 in Central). Central has the higher median home value ($228,500 vs $196,400 in Pickens).

Population, income & housing

	Central	Pickens
Population	5,299	3,386
Median age	22.7 yrs	38.4 yrs
Median household income	$58,262	$58,534
Median home value	$228,500	$196,400
Median gross rent	$973	$874
Housing units	2,162	1,452
Homeownership rate	23.0%	67.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	48.6%	14.0%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	1.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Central	Pickens
Population	5,270 → 5,299 (+0.6%)	3,160 → 3,386 (+7.2%)
Median household income	$28,820 → $58,262 (+102.2%)	$39,103 → $58,534 (+49.7%)
Median home value	$108,700 → $228,500 (+110.2%)	$118,800 → $196,400 (+65.3%)
Median gross rent	$652 → $973 (+49.2%)	$734 → $874 (+19.1%)

Central

Population

5,2705,299

Median household income

$28,820$58,262

Median home value

$108,700$228,500

Median gross rent

$652$973

Pickens

Population

3,1603,386

Median household income

$39,103$58,534

Median home value

$118,800$196,400

Median gross rent

$734$874

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Central	Pickens
Under 5	8.9%	8.7%
5 to 17	10.8%	16.7%
18 to 24	35.0%	10.8%
25 to 34	15.4%	9.1%
35 to 44	10.9%	12.5%
45 to 54	9.8%	16.1%
55 to 64	3.0%	11.6%
65 to 74	2.8%	9.1%
75 and over	3.5%	5.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Central	Pickens
White (non-Hispanic)	64.7%	72.7%
Black or African American	7.3%	13.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.5%
Asian	8.1%	2.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.0%
Two or more races	12.4%	6.3%
Hispanic or Latino	7.1%	4.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Central	Pickens
No high school diploma	9.3%	14.8%
High school graduate	18.2%	45.2%
Some college or associate's	23.9%	26.0%
Bachelor's degree	32.0%	9.1%
Graduate or professional degree	16.5%	4.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Central	Pickens
Drove alone	78.7%	88.6%
Carpooled	7.1%	10.7%
Public transit	4.9%	0.0%
Walked	3.7%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.7%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Central	Pickens
1-unit, detached	33.4%	68.7%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	12.4%	9.7%
5 to 19 units	41.4%	7.2%
20 or more units	5.6%	1.9%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	12.5%

Poverty & households

	Central	Pickens
Poverty rate	31.4%	16.7%
Average household size	2.59	2.59
Mean commute (minutes)	19	38
Median year structure built	1993	1963