138,207 people (2024 Census estimate, +4.9% since 2020)
497 square miles of land · 278 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 Pickens County in the area they serve, reporting 126,723 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| EASLEY COMBINED UTIL (SC3910002) surface water · local government · SC3910002 | 36,098 served |
| CLEMSON CITY OF (SC3910004) buys surface water · local government · SC3910004 | 17,896 served |
| SIX MILE W/D (SC3920002) buys surface water · local government · SC3920002 | 14,845 served |
| PICKENS WATER TREATMENT PLANT SC3910001 surface water · local government · SC3910001 | 10,263 served |
| SOUTHSIDE W/D (3920010) buys surface water · local government · SC3920010 | 9,568 served |
| DACUSVILLE-CEDAR ROCK WT CO (SC3920008) buys surface water · local government · SC3920008 | 8,700 served |
| CLEMSON UNIVERSITY (SC3910006) buys surface water · state · SC3910006 | 8,320 served |
| BETHLEHEM-ROANOKE W/D (SC3920003) buys surface water · local government · SC3920003 | 6,334 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 308 people were held in Pickens County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 337 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 265.
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 Pickens County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $221.3 million — $187.3 million to run schools, about $11,485 per student, plus $24.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $92.2 million local (mostly property tax), $120.5 million state, $36.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $204.4 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 Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Pickens County about $37.1 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.
290 bridges in Pickens County: 131 in good condition, 124 fair, and 35 poor (12.1%). “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.
| SC 8 over RICES CREEK · built 1920 | 14,600 vehicles a day |
| US 123 over GEORGES CREEK · built 1948 | 12,200 vehicles a day |
| US 178 over EIGHTEEN MILE CREEK · built 1951 | 8,500 vehicles a day |
| SC 93 over NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR · built 1954 | 5,500 vehicles a day |
| S-39-30 over TRIB TO 18 MILE CR · built 1958 | 5,000 vehicles a day |
| S-39-135 over HAMILTON CR · built 1957 | 4,200 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $136.9 million of work in Pickens County in fiscal 2025, about $1,042 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 Pickens 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 Pickens County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Greenville County (20 mi) · Oconee County (21 mi) · Transylvania County, NC (23 mi) · Anderson County (26 mi) · Henderson County, NC (34 mi) · Jackson County, NC (36 mi).