82,475 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.7% since 2020)
627 square miles of land · 132 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.
20 active community water systems list Oconee County in the area they serve, reporting 98,845 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| SENECA CITY OF (SC3710002) surface water · local government · SC3710002 | 39,772 served |
| PIONEER RURAL WATER DIST (SC3720001) surface water · local government · SC3720001 | 16,929 served |
| WALHALLA CITY OF (SC3710004) surface water · local government · SC3710004 | 16,010 served |
| WESTMINSTER CITY OF (SC3710003) surface water · local government · SC3710003 | 9,588 served |
| SALEM TOWN OF (SC3710001) buys surface water · local government · SC3710001 | 6,444 served |
| KEOWEE KEY UTILITY SYSTEM INC (3750023) buys surface water · private · SC3750023 | 4,108 served |
| FOXWOOD HILLS (SC3750025) buys surface water · private · SC3750025 | 1,828 served |
| VIEW AT THE PIER THE (SC3770300) buys surface water · private · SC3770300 | 864 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 206 people were held in Oconee County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 425 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 155.
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 Oconee County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $182 million — $146.3 million to run schools, about $14,323 per student, plus $32.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $86.9 million local (mostly property tax), $75.1 million state, $18.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $53 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 Oconee County about $45.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
215 bridges in Oconee County: 68 in good condition, 120 fair, and 27 poor (12.6%). “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.
| SC 188 over LAKE KEOWEE (CANE CK) · built 1969 | 7,100 vehicles a day |
| SC 11 over LITTLE CANE CREEK · built 1969 | 6,200 vehicles a day |
| SC 11 over I-85 · built 1976 | 3,900 vehicles a day |
| S-37-36 over CONEROSS CREEK · built 1973 | 1,750 vehicles a day |
| S-37-51 over SNOW CREEK · built 1952 | 1,350 vehicles a day |
| S-37-193 over CHAUGA RIVER · built 1965 | 1,350 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $28.6 million of work in Oconee County in fiscal 2025, about $364 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 Oconee 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 Oconee County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Stephens County, GA (19 mi) · Pickens County (21 mi) · Rabun County, GA (22 mi) · Franklin County, GA (27 mi) · Habersham County, GA (27 mi) · Hart County, GA (28 mi).