Richland County vs Spartanburg County

A side-by-side comparison of Richland County and Spartanburg County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Richland County has the higher population (418,725 vs 338,096 in Spartanburg County). Spartanburg County has the higher median household income ($64,195 vs $61,699 in Richland County). Richland County has the higher median home value ($224,200 vs $216,000 in Spartanburg County).

Population, income & housing

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
Population	418,725	338,096
Median age	34.2 yrs	37.9 yrs
Median household income	$61,699	$64,195
Median home value	$224,200	$216,000
Median gross rent	$1,185	$1,019
Housing units	185,196	141,086
Homeownership rate	60.4%	72.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.1%	25.7%
Unemployment rate	6.6%	4.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
Population	411,357 → 418,725 (+1.8%)	307,617 → 338,096 (+9.9%)
Median household income	$54,767 → $61,699 (+12.7%)	$52,332 → $64,195 (+22.7%)
Median home value	$163,100 → $224,200 (+37.5%)	$141,400 → $216,000 (+52.8%)
Median gross rent	$972 → $1,185 (+21.9%)	$794 → $1,019 (+28.3%)

Richland County

Population

411,357418,725

Median household income

$54,767$61,699

Median home value

$163,100$224,200

Median gross rent

$972$1,185

Spartanburg County

Population

307,617338,096

Median household income

$52,332$64,195

Median home value

$141,400$216,000

Median gross rent

$794$1,019

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
Under 5	5.6%	6.0%
5 to 17	16.1%	17.4%
18 to 24	14.8%	8.9%
25 to 34	14.4%	14.0%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.3%
45 to 54	11.4%	12.6%
55 to 64	11.4%	12.6%
65 to 74	8.7%	9.9%
75 and over	5.1%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
White (non-Hispanic)	39.9%	65.7%
Black or African American	46.9%	19.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	2.9%	2.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.4%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	6.3%	8.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
No high school diploma	8.0%	12.2%
High school graduate	21.0%	31.1%
Some college or associate's	29.8%	31.0%
Bachelor's degree	23.6%	15.8%
Graduate or professional degree	17.5%	10.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
Drove alone	72.4%	80.1%
Carpooled	8.0%	10.0%
Public transit	0.9%	0.1%
Walked	6.1%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	10.5%	7.8%
Other means	2.0%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
1-unit, detached	64.1%	72.4%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	6.6%	4.7%
5 to 19 units	12.0%	4.6%
20 or more units	8.7%	3.5%
Mobile home & other	4.7%	12.3%

Poverty & households

	Richland County	Spartanburg County
Poverty rate	16.9%	14.5%
Average household size	2.36	2.57
Mean commute (minutes)	23	25
Median year structure built	1989	1989