Barnwell County vs Saluda County

A side-by-side comparison of Barnwell County and Saluda County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Barnwell County has the higher population (20,565 vs 18,958 in Saluda County). Saluda County has the higher median household income ($52,957 vs $41,800 in Barnwell County). Saluda County has the higher median home value ($123,200 vs $97,200 in Barnwell County).

Population, income & housing

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
Population	20,565	18,958
Median age	40.7 yrs	43.0 yrs
Median household income	$41,800	$52,957
Median home value	$97,200	$123,200
Median gross rent	$695	$814
Housing units	9,901	9,420
Homeownership rate	71.0%	78.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.8%	19.8%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	2.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
Population	21,346 → 20,565 (-3.7%)	20,303 → 18,958 (-6.6%)
Median household income	$35,803 → $41,800 (+16.7%)	$45,714 → $52,957 (+15.8%)
Median home value	$81,900 → $97,200 (+18.7%)	$108,600 → $123,200 (+13.4%)
Median gross rent	$621 → $695 (+11.9%)	$661 → $814 (+23.1%)

Barnwell County

Population

21,34620,565

Median household income

$35,803$41,800

Median home value

$81,900$97,200

Median gross rent

$621$695

Saluda County

Population

20,30318,958

Median household income

$45,714$52,957

Median home value

$108,600$123,200

Median gross rent

$661$814

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
Under 5	6.6%	5.8%
5 to 17	17.1%	16.0%
18 to 24	8.6%	7.8%
25 to 34	11.8%	10.2%
35 to 44	11.5%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.7%	12.8%
55 to 64	13.7%	15.2%
65 to 74	11.6%	11.5%
75 and over	7.3%	8.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
White (non-Hispanic)	50.4%	57.5%
Black or African American	43.1%	22.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.5%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.8%
Two or more races	2.6%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	2.8%	16.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
No high school diploma	19.2%	16.0%
High school graduate	40.4%	37.8%
Some college or associate's	27.5%	26.4%
Bachelor's degree	8.3%	11.4%
Graduate or professional degree	4.6%	8.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
Drove alone	81.1%	79.7%
Carpooled	11.9%	7.8%
Public transit	2.4%	0.2%
Walked	0.5%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.1%	5.4%
Other means	0.8%	5.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
1-unit, detached	57.7%	65.5%
1-unit, attached	0.7%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	5.8%	1.2%
5 to 19 units	2.3%	2.0%
20 or more units	1.1%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	32.5%	30.9%

Poverty & households

	Barnwell County	Saluda County
Poverty rate	28.5%	19.4%
Average household size	2.49	2.48
Mean commute (minutes)	28	30
Median year structure built	1984	1987