201,775 people (2024 Census estimate, +7.4% since 2020)
576 square miles of land · 350 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.
15 active community water systems list Beaufort County in the area they serve, reporting 221,318 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BJW&SA (SC0720003) surface water · local government · SC0720003 | 164,829 served |
| HILTON HEAD PSD 1 (0720006) buys surface water · local government · SC0720006 | 25,558 served |
| SOUTH ISLAND PSD (SC0720001) groundwater · local government · SC0720001 | 18,299 served |
| FRIPP ISLAND PSD (SC0720002) buys surface water · local government · SC0720002 | 3,536 served |
| BROAD CREEK PSD (SC0720009) buys surface water · local government · SC0720009 | 3,481 served |
| WATER OAK UTILITY CO (SC0750002) buys surface water · local government · SC0750002 | 2,318 served |
| HARBOR ISLAND (SC0750013) buys surface water · local government · SC0750013 | 1,039 served |
| CALLAWASSIE ISLAND (SC0750041) buys surface water · private · SC0750041 | 900 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 125 people were held in Beaufort County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2021), or 113 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2016 it was about 178.
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.
1 school district has its office in Beaufort County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $532.2 million — $380.6 million to run schools, about $17,751 per student, plus $132 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $293.1 million local (mostly property tax), $144.1 million state, $59.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $543.4 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 High compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Beaufort County about $255.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
72 bridges in Beaufort County: 28 in good condition, 40 fair, and 4 poor (5.6%). “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.
| US 278 EB over MACKAY CREEK · built 1956 | 28,950 vehicles a day |
| US 21 SB over BEAUFORT RIVER · built 1979 | 14,400 vehicles a day |
| US 17 NB over HUSPA CREEK · built 1993 | 6,600 vehicles a day |
| US 17 SB over HUSPA CREEK · built 1993 | 6,600 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $8.8 million of work in Beaufort County in fiscal 2025, about $47 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 Beaufort 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 Beaufort County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Jasper County (20 mi) · Colleton County (34 mi) · Chatham County, GA (35 mi) · Effingham County, GA (38 mi) · Hampton County (39 mi) · Bryan County, GA (50 mi).