111,652 people (2024 Census estimate, +15.6% since 2020)
549 square miles of land · 203 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.
5 active community water systems list Lancaster County in the area they serve, reporting 96,720 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LANCASTER COUNTY W&SD (SC2920001) buys surface water · local government · SC2920001 | 79,107 served |
| LANCASTER CITY OF (SC2910001) buys surface water · local government · SC2910001 | 14,074 served |
| KERSHAW TOWN OF (SC2910003) surface water · local government · SC2910003 | 2,567 served |
| HEATH SPRINGS TOWN OF (SC2910002) buys surface water · local government · SC2910002 | 947 served |
| CATAWBA RIVER WSP (2920002) surface water · public/private · SC2920002 | 25 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 199 people were held in Lancaster County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 304 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 139.
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 Lancaster County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $217.8 million — $185.8 million to run schools, about $12,294 per student, plus $19.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $94 million local (mostly property tax), $114.3 million state, $27.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $220 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lancaster County about $40.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
182 bridges in Lancaster County: 52 in good condition, 113 fair, and 17 poor (9.3%). “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 521 SB over RR CSXT · built 1929 | 12,150 vehicles a day |
| SC 200 over CAMP CREEK · built 1938 | 6,600 vehicles a day |
| S-29-55 over TWELVE MILE CREEK · built 1938 | 2,800 vehicles a day |
| S-29-26 over HORTON CREEK · built 1961 | 1,450 vehicles a day |
| S-29-100 over GILLS CREEK · built 1968 | 1,150 vehicles a day |
| S-29-166 over CAMP CREEK · built 1955 | 1,100 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $25.6 million of work in Lancaster County in fiscal 2025, about $267 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 Lancaster 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 Lancaster County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Union County, NC (23 mi) · Kershaw County (25 mi) · Chester County (26 mi) · Chesterfield County (31 mi) · Fairfield County (31 mi) · York County (34 mi).