39,259 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.9% since 2020)
1,056 square miles of land · 37 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.
7 active community water systems list Colleton County in the area they serve, reporting 18,229 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| WALTERBORO CITY OF (1510004) groundwater · local government · SC1510004 | 11,829 served |
| EDISTO BEACH TOWN OF (SC1510006) groundwater · local government · SC1510006 | 5,848 served |
| SMOAKS TOWN OF (SC1510002) groundwater · local government · SC1510002 | 176 served |
| LODGE TOWN OF (SC1510001) groundwater · local government · SC1510001 | 121 served |
| WILLIAMS TOWN OF (SC1510003) groundwater · local government · SC1510003 | 103 served |
| FISHING CREEK POA (SC1550002) groundwater · private · SC1550002 | 98 served |
| FAITH CATHEDRAL FELLOWSHIP INC (1570924) groundwater · private · SC1570924 | 54 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 80 people were held in Colleton County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 339 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 16.
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 Colleton County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $82.2 million — $73.9 million to run schools, about $14,940 per student, plus $5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.3 million local (mostly property tax), $40.4 million state, $20.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $70.8 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 Colleton County about $37.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
231 bridges in Colleton County: 76 in good condition, 149 fair, and 6 poor (2.6%). “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 17 over EDISTO RIVER · built 1953 | 19,300 vehicles a day |
| SC 64/BELLS HWY over BUCKHEAD CREEK TRIB · built 1931 | 2,900 vehicles a day |
| US 17 ALT over COMBAHEE RIVER · built 1940 | 1,350 vehicles a day |
| US 21 over BUCKHEAD CREEK (2) · built 1955 | 1,250 vehicles a day |
| S-15-64 over INDIAN CREEK · built 1958 | 950 vehicles a day |
| S-15-41/RITER RD over ASHEPOO RIVER · built 1956 | 850 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $12.1 million of work in Colleton County in fiscal 2025, about $313 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 Colleton 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 Colleton County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Dorchester County (22 mi) · Hampton County (29 mi) · Bamberg County (34 mi) · Beaufort County (34 mi) · Jasper County (36 mi) · Orangeburg County (41 mi).