City safety & data profile

SummervilleSC

Summerville, SC is a 49K-resident city in Dorchester County with a median household income of $81,046.

Dorchester County, South Carolina. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Summerville, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Summerville has a population larger than 78% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $328,100, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-16
49K
Population (place)
Top 22%
By size
$81,046
Median income (place)
$328,100
Median home (place)
10.1%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Summerville

Summerville posts a median household income higher than 50% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Summerville area.

Top 50%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Summerville

Composite score · Summerville, SC

46/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Poverty rate C
10.1%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Bachelor's+ share C-
33.5%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Household income C-
$81,046

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Violent crime F
402 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

Summerville in context: the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Summerville income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$81,046 Top 50% higher than 50% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Summerville $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

SC cities ranked by population

Population among 50 SC places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows By headcount, Columbia ranks #1 here -- income honors go to Five Forks.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Income ranking: SC

Median household income across 50 tracked SC places. Hover a bar for its population rank.

median

What this shows Five Forks leads this pool on median income; Columbia is the population leader instead.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Summerville, SC beyond the headline numbers

Summerville sits inside Dorchester County, South Carolina, at roughly 33.02°N, -80.18°W. Population 48,848, $81,046 median household income. Median home value $328,100, median rent $1,526. Poverty rate 10.1%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Summerville, 5/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 63.8°F annual average, 52.8" precipitation.

Public transit carries 0.1% of Summerville workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

Remote work covers 10.7% of Summerville workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

Median rent in Summerville, SC runs $1,526/month, above the midpoint for reporting cities -- worth weighing against the income figures on this page.

At 10.1%, poverty in Summerville, SC runs below the midpoint of reporting cities -- enough to matter locally, not enough to dominate the city's profile.

A median home in Summerville runs about 4.0 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Unemployment in Summerville sits at 4.8%, below the midpoint of reporting cities.

33.5% of Summerville adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Summerville from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

A Decade of Change 2013–2024

County-level trend (Dorchester County): Summerville's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
167K+20%
Median Income
$78,198+45%
Median Home Value
$329,300+97%
Poverty Rate
11.4%-6%
Unemployment
4.8%-52%

The Economic Picture

Summerville's poverty rate of 10.1% runs 19% below the tracked-city average, the most notable of the economic figures Areazine tracks here. A second figure worth noting: median household income at $81,046, 9% below the tracked-city average.

Economics indicators for Summerville, SC
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,526/mo
Poverty Rate
10.1% -19% vs avg
Unemployment 4.8%
Bachelor's Degree+ 33.5%
Work From Home 10.7%
Public Transit 0.1%

Population

White 65.3%
African American 19.9%
Asian 1.9%
Two or More Ethnicities 3.8%

Community Health 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
37.1%
High Blood Pressure
35.6%
Obesity
35.6%
Physical Inactivity
25.3%
Binge Drinking
16.8%
Frequent Mental Distress
16.7%
Frequent Physical Distress
13.8%
Current Smoking
13.8%
Diabetes
13%
Lack of Health Insurance
11.3%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 65.2%
Annual Checkup 80.3%

Other Measures

Current Asthma
9.8%
Coronary Heart Disease
6.2%
Stroke
3.6%

Nearby Healthcare 1 total

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
1
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
5/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
ROPER ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL-BERKELEY INC
SUMMERVILLE · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★★

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
64°F
Annual Rainfall
52.8"
Hot Months (>80°F)
5
Cold Months (<40°F)
0
58°
35°
Jan
3.6"
62°
37°
Feb
3.3"
69°
42°
Mar
3.9"
76°
50°
Apr
3.5"
82°
59°
May
3.5"
87°
67°
Jun
5.6"
90°
71°
Jul
6.8"
90°
70°
Aug
6.2"
85°
65°
Sep
5.9"
77°
53°
Oct
4.1"
68°
42°
Nov
3.0"
61°
37°
Dec
3.4"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
101.0 Regional Price Parity

1.0% above national average

US avg
101.0

Metro area: Charleston-North Charleston, SC (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
250
Claims filed
$7.5M
Total paid out
AE
Most common flood zone

Dorchester County has recorded 250 National Flood Insurance Program claims totaling $7.5M in payouts since 2016.

Hurricane Matthew alone generated 96 of those claims, the county's largest named flood event in this record.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Summerville?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Summerville right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet SC-SUMMERVILLE · Summerville

Summerville: no area-tagged alerts on record. State hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Summerville; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse South Carolina state hubs · Methodology

Related reading

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags Summerville in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Questions & Answers 9

What is the population of Summerville, SC? ▼
Summerville, SC has a population of 48,848 people, located in Dorchester County, South Carolina.
What is the median household income in Summerville? ▼
The median household income in Summerville, SC is $81,046 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 10.1%.
What is the median home value in Summerville? ▼
The median home value in Summerville, SC is $328,100. Median rent is $1,526/month.
What are the top health concerns in Summerville? ▼
The top health indicators in Summerville include Short Sleep Duration (37.1%), High Blood Pressure (35.6%), Obesity (35.6%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Summerville? ▼
Summerville has 1 hospital with an average rating of 5/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Summerville? ▼
The median age in Summerville, SC is 38.9 years. 33.5% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Summerville? ▼
Summerville has an average annual temperature of 63.8°F and 52.8" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Summerville? ▼
The regional price parity for Summerville is 100.962, meaning prices are 1.0% above the national average.
How many flood insurance claims has Dorchester County filed? ▼
Dorchester County, South Carolina has recorded 250 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $7.5M in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Cities nationwide with a comparable poverty or income figure 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Summerville, both outside South Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside SC (10.1% here).

Stamford, CT 10.1% Beaverton, OR 10.1% Parma, OH 10.1% New Rochelle, NY 10.1%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside SC ($81,046 here).

Manchester, NH $81,007 SeaTac, WA $81,104 Baldwin, PA $80,983 Lynn Haven, FL $80,973

Compare Summerville with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

Ladson, SC 14K Goose Creek, SC 41K Hanahan, SC 18K North Charleston, SC 108K Charleston, SC 133K Mount Pleasant, SC 81K Beaufort, SC 13K Port Royal, SC 12K
All cities in South Carolina → Compare Summerville vs Ladson → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using Summerville's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Summerville area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
  • Compare Summerville against South Carolina peers on any ranking lens. Explore South Carolina

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Dorchester County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.