Aiken County vs Dorchester County

A side-by-side comparison of Aiken County and Dorchester County: population, income, housing, and more.

Aiken County and Dorchester County are counties in South Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Aiken County has the higher population (171,949 vs 164,322 in Dorchester County). Dorchester County has the higher median household income ($76,896 vs $67,940 in Aiken County). Dorchester County has the higher median home value ($294,400 vs $199,500 in Aiken County).

Population, income & housing

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
Population	171,949	164,322
Median age	41.6 yrs	37.9 yrs
Median household income	$67,940	$76,896
Median home value	$199,500	$294,400
Median gross rent	$1,031	$1,381
Housing units	78,715	66,435
Homeownership rate	76.7%	75.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.1%	30.0%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
Population	168,301 → 171,949 (+2.2%)	158,299 → 164,322 (+3.8%)
Median household income	$51,399 → $67,940 (+32.2%)	$63,080 → $76,896 (+21.9%)
Median home value	$147,300 → $199,500 (+35.4%)	$198,800 → $294,400 (+48.1%)
Median gross rent	$819 → $1,031 (+25.9%)	$1,099 → $1,381 (+25.7%)

Aiken County

Population

168,301171,949

Median household income

$51,399$67,940

Median home value

$147,300$199,500

Median gross rent

$819$1,031

Dorchester County

Population

158,299164,322

Median household income

$63,080$76,896

Median home value

$198,800$294,400

Median gross rent

$1,099$1,381

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
Under 5	5.7%	5.8%
5 to 17	15.9%	18.4%
18 to 24	7.6%	7.8%
25 to 34	12.6%	13.6%
35 to 44	11.9%	14.1%
45 to 54	11.9%	12.7%
55 to 64	14.0%	12.7%
65 to 74	12.2%	9.3%
75 and over	8.2%	5.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
White (non-Hispanic)	64.2%	61.3%
Black or African American	24.2%	24.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	1.0%	2.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.5%
Some other race	0.4%	0.6%
Two or more races	3.2%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	7.0%	6.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
No high school diploma	10.2%	8.7%
High school graduate	29.7%	26.1%
Some college or associate's	29.0%	35.2%
Bachelor's degree	19.6%	19.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.5%	10.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
Drove alone	82.7%	80.2%
Carpooled	6.8%	7.8%
Public transit	0.3%	0.1%
Walked	0.7%	0.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	8.9%	9.6%
Other means	0.7%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
1-unit, detached	68.3%	66.6%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	5.2%
2 to 4 units	4.3%	4.4%
5 to 19 units	3.4%	8.1%
20 or more units	1.7%	3.4%
Mobile home & other	18.4%	12.3%

Poverty & households

	Aiken County	Dorchester County
Poverty rate	13.9%	11.5%
Average household size	2.47	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	25	31
Median year structure built	1988	1999