Greenwood County, South Carolina

Greenwood County is a county in South Carolina, United States, about 51 miles south of
Greenville. It had a population of 69,351 at the 2020 census, an estimated 70,379 by 2025, and
covers 455.60 square miles (1,180.0 km2) centred near 34°10′N 82°08′W.

Greenwood is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 29646. The county
holds 1 city, 4 incorporated towns, 4 census-designated places and 7 unincorporated communities,
and it runs on Eastern Time.

Towns & Villages in Greenwood County

Greenwood County has 16 named places on record: 5 incorporated cities and towns, 4
census-designated places tracked separately by the Census Bureau, and 7 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place;
Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Ware Shoals is one place to watch on a map: its corporate limits straddle Greenwood, Abbeville
and Laurens counties, a legacy of the mill town’s 1902 founding on the Saluda River. As of the
2020 census every one of its residents lived in the Greenwood County portion, so its full
population is counted here rather than split three ways.

ZIP Codes

• 29646 — Greenwood (also serves 29647, 29648 and 29649, the city’s other post office and PO box ZIPs)
• 29666 — Ninety Six
• 29692 — Ware Shoals
• 29653 — Hodges (also serves 29695, a Hodges-area rural-route ZIP)
• 29848 — Troy

Promised Land, Cokesbury, Bradley, Coronaca, Callison, Epworth, Kirksey, Phoenix, Pittsburg,
Shoals Junction and Verdery have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the
nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Greenwood County sits in South Carolina’s Piedmont, an upland belt of rolling hills that runs
across the state’s midsection and has long supported agriculture and textile manufacturing. The
county lies in the basins of the Savannah and Saluda rivers, and Lake Greenwood, formed by the
Buzzard’s Roost Dam on the Saluda River as a 1930s New Deal project, covers a large stretch of
its eastern side. Duke Power Company operates the dam for hydroelectric generation and manages
the lake for recreation today.

Laurens County lies to the north, Newberry County to the northeast, Edgefield and Saluda
counties to the southeast, McCormick County to the southwest, and Abbeville County to the west.
Laurens County, Newberry County, Edgefield County, Saluda County, McCormick County and Abbeville County all border Greenwood directly.

Demographics

Greenwood County had a population of 69,351 at the 2020 census, slightly below its 69,661 count
in 2010, and the latest estimate puts the county near 70,379 residents. Greenwood and Ninety Six
are the county’s two largest communities, together holding well over a third of the county’s
population. Greenwood County is the largest county in the Greenwood Micropolitan Statistical Area
and one of 22 counties that make up South Carolina’s Piedmont region. Population density works
out to roughly 152 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of jobs in Greenwood County, a legacy of the textile
mills that built towns like Ware Shoals and Greenwood itself. Self Regional Healthcare, a
regional hospital system, and Fujifilm Manufacturing and Eaton Corporation, both with plants in
the county, rank among the largest employers. Lander University, a public university in
Greenwood, is the county’s largest educational employer. The county’s biggest annual event is the
South Carolina Festival of Flowers each June, which has drawn more than 80,000 visitors in recent
years and centers on Uptown Greenwood and Park Seed’s historic Victorian display gardens; the
Festival of Discovery, a companion event, celebrates the region’s history, culture, music and
cuisine.

History

South Carolina’s General Assembly formed Greenwood County in 1897, carving it out of Abbeville
and Edgefield counties. The land had earlier been Cherokee territory crossed by the Cherokee
Path, a trading route; the town of Ninety Six took its name from traders’ distance markers along
that route. Greenwood itself grew from a summer residence built in 1823 by planter John McGehee,
became the village of Woodville by 1837, was renamed Greenwood by 1850, and was incorporated in
1857 after the Greenville & Columbia Railroad reached it in 1852.

Ninety Six holds a central place in Revolutionary War history: from 22 May to 19 June 1781,
Continental Army troops under Major General Nathanael Greene laid a 28-day siege against Loyalist
defenders of a star-shaped British fort there, with Polish military engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko
serving as Greene’s chief engineer and being wounded during the siege. The National Park Service
now preserves the battlefield as the Ninety Six National Historic Site.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Greenwood County. US 25, US 178 and US 221 run through the
county, along with SC 10, SC 34, SC 72, SC 246, SC 248, SC 252 and SC 702.

• Greenville — about 51 miles north
• Anderson — about 42 miles northwest
• Augusta, Georgia — about 63 miles south

Greenwood County Airport, just outside the city of Greenwood, handles general aviation traffic
only and has no scheduled commercial airline service; Greenville’s airports are the nearest with
regular commercial flights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Greenwood County located?
It sits in South Carolina’s Piedmont, about 51 miles south of Greenville, bordered by Laurens,
Newberry, Edgefield, Saluda, McCormick and Abbeville counties.

What is the population of Greenwood County?
69,351 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 70,379.

How big is Greenwood County?
455.60 square miles (1,180.0 km2) of land, plus 8.21 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of Greenwood County?
Greenwood, incorporated in 1857, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Greenwood County?
Five incorporated places — Greenwood, Ninety Six, Ware Shoals, Hodges and Troy — plus
four census-designated places (Promised Land, Cokesbury, Bradley and Coronaca) and seven
unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Greenwood County use?
29646, 29647, 29648 and 29649 for Greenwood; 29666 for Ninety Six; 29692 for Ware Shoals; 29653
and 29695 for Hodges; and 29848 for Troy.

What is Greenwood County known for?
The Ninety Six National Historic Site, where a 28-day Revolutionary War siege took place in 1781,
and the annual South Carolina Festival of Flowers each June.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in South Carolina.