217,183 people (2024 Census estimate, +6.4% since 2020)
714 square miles of land · 304 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
34 active community water systems list Anderson County in the area they serve, reporting 205,976 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| ELECTRIC CITY UTILITIES (SC0410012) buys surface water · local government · SC0410012 | 38,204 served |
| POWDERSVILLE WATER DISTRICT (SC0420002) buys surface water · local government · SC0420002 | 34,960 served |
| HAMMOND W/D (SC0420007) buys surface water · local government · SC0420007 | 21,193 served |
| WEST ANDERSON W/D (0420006) buys surface water · local government · SC0420006 | 17,430 served |
| SANDY SPRINGS WATER CO INC (SC0420003) buys surface water · local government · SC0420003 | 17,311 served |
| BIG CREEK W/S DISTRICT (0420009) buys surface water · local government · SC0420009 | 13,647 served |
| STARR-IVA W/D (SC0420005) buys surface water · local government · SC0420005 | 11,125 served |
| BROADWAY W&S DISTRICT (SC0420008) buys surface water · local government · SC0420008 | 9,586 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 413 people were held in Anderson County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 307 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 524.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
5 school districts have their office in Anderson County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $204.2 million — $170.5 million to run schools, about $13,574 per student, plus $25.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $88.3 million local (mostly property tax), $101.7 million state, $34.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $163.6 million.
Spent $139.6 million — $119 million to run schools, about $10,981 per student, plus $13.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $58.3 million local (mostly property tax), $76.4 million state, $15.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $189.8 million.
Spent $49.4 million — $44.2 million to run schools, about $12,659 per student, plus $4.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $18 million local (mostly property tax), $29.1 million state, $7.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $11 million.
Spent $48.9 million — $44.2 million to run schools, about $14,724 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $28.3 million local (mostly property tax), $24.7 million state, $5.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $51.6 million.
Spent $42.5 million — $35.5 million to run schools, about $12,976 per student, plus $6.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.4 million local (mostly property tax), $21.6 million state, $9.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $43.2 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Anderson County about $67.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
462 bridges in Anderson County: 129 in good condition, 314 fair, and 19 poor (4.1%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I-85 SBL over SENECA RIVER · built 1963 | 24,850 vehicles a day |
| SC 81 over SALUDA RIVER & S-4-143 · built 1969 | 13,500 vehicles a day |
| US 76 over NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR · built 1929 | 7,900 vehicles a day |
| US 76 EB over BROADWAY CREEK · built 1920 | 7,000 vehicles a day |
| C-4-3634 over C & N W RAILROAD · built 1929 | 6,300 vehicles a day |
| S-4-141 over BLUE RIDGE RR · built 1938 | 5,800 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $84.5 million of work in Anderson County in fiscal 2025, about $415 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for South Carolina are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Anderson County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Anderson County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Hart County, GA (22 mi) · Abbeville County (23 mi) · Pickens County (26 mi) · Oconee County (29 mi) · Greenville County (30 mi) · Elbert County, GA (30 mi).