Orangeburg County, South Carolina

Orangeburg County is a county in South Carolina, United States, in the state’s Midlands
region about 37 miles southeast of Columbia. It had a population of 84,223 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 83,253 by 2024, and covers 1,106 square miles (2,864 km2) of land centred near
33°26′N 80°48′W.

Orangeburg is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 29115. The
county holds 1 city, 16 incorporated towns and 3 census-designated places, plus dozens of
unincorporated crossroads communities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 45075.

Towns & Villages in Orangeburg County

Orangeburg County has 20 named places with an official population count on record: one city,
16 incorporated towns, and 3 census-designated places (CDPs) — unincorporated areas the
Census Bureau tracks separately but which have no town government of their own. South Carolina
has no civil townships, so the table below runs four columns rather than five.

Cope, with 37 residents at the 2020 census, is the least populous incorporated town in South
Carolina. Beyond these 20 places, the county’s map carries roughly a hundred more named
crossroads and rural neighborhoods on record with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic
Names Information System — places such as Sandy Run, Four Holes, Providence and Eutaw
Springs — that never incorporated, never became a CDP, and have no population figures of
their own. North and Woodford share the 29112 ZIP; Livingston and Neeses share 29107, both served
from Neeses’ post office.

ZIP Codes

• 29115–29118 — Orangeburg (also covers Brookdale, Edisto and Wilkinson Heights)
• 29059 — Holly Hill
• 29432 — Branchville
• 29142 — Santee
• 29018 — Bowman
• 29112 — North and Woodford
• 29047 — Elloree
• 29146 — Springfield
• 29133 — Rowesville
• 29048 — Eutawville
• 29113 — Norway
• 29107 — Neeses and Livingston
• 29039 — Cordova
• 29163 — Vance
• 29038 — Cope

Unincorporated communities such as Sandy Run and Four Holes have no ZIP code of their own;
mail there is delivered under the nearest town’s code.

Geography

Orangeburg County sits in South Carolina’s Midlands, a belt of flat-to-gently-rolling
coastal plain between the Sandhills and the Lowcountry. The county covers 1,128 square miles in
total, of which 1,106 square miles are land and 22 square miles are water — about 1.9
percent, most of it Lake Marion, which forms the county’s southern boundary and gives the
town of Santee its resort economy. The North Fork of the Edisto River runs through Orangeburg
city, and the South Fork of the Edisto marks part of the county’s western edge.

Calhoun and Lexington counties lie to the north, Clarendon County to the east, Berkeley and
Dorchester counties to the south, Colleton and Bamberg counties to the southwest, and Aiken and
Barnwell counties to the west. Calhoun
County, Lexington County,
Clarendon County, Berkeley County,
Dorchester County,
Colleton County,
Bamberg County,
Aiken County and
Barnwell County all border Orangeburg
directly — nine neighbors, more than almost any other county in the state.

Demographics

Orangeburg County had a population of 84,223 at the 2020 census, and the 2024 estimate puts it
near 83,253, a slow decline typical of rural Midlands counties losing residents to Columbia and
Charleston. Orangeburg city and Brookdale CDP together hold more than a fifth of the county’s
population. Median household income runs $45,675 (2024 estimate), well below South Carolina’s
statewide 2023 ACS figure of $67,804. Population density works out to roughly 76 people per
square mile of land, low even by the standards of a mostly rural state.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 6,074 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 4,657 and retail trade at 4,333. Husqvarna Group runs an outdoor
power equipment manufacturing plant in the county, and GPM Investments, which operates convenience
stores under the Fas Mart and other banners, is among the larger private employers. Orangeburg
city is home to two historically black institutions, Claflin University, a private liberal arts
college founded in 1869, and South Carolina State University, a public HBCU with roughly 2,600
students. Santee, on Lake Marion, anchors a golf-and-lake tourism economy built around Santee
State Park and several golf courses reachable off Interstate 95. The county’s biggest annual
event is the Orangeburg County Fair, held each fall at the fairgrounds in Orangeburg.

History

European settlers chartered the Orangeburg Judicial District in 1769 out of unorganized upland
territory between the Congaree and Savannah rivers, naming it for William IV, Prince of Orange.
The district became a county under South Carolina’s 1868 Reconstruction constitution, which
also created townships for census purposes and briefly let county voters elect their own state
representatives before white Democrats regained control through voter intimidation and
disfranchising laws that held through the mid-1960s.

On 8 February 1968, South Carolina Highway Patrol officers and a city police officer fired on
students protesting segregation at a local bowling alley on the South Carolina State College
campus, killing Samuel Hammond Jr., Delano Middleton and Henry Smith and wounding 28 others. The
Orangeburg Massacre was the first killing of student protesters by police at an American
university; the officers involved were acquitted in federal court, and the bowling alley
desegregated afterward along with other Orangeburg businesses.

Getting There

Interstate 26 crosses the county through Orangeburg city, and Interstate 95 cuts through its
southeastern corner near Santee. US Routes 15, 21, 176, 178, 301, 321 and 601 also run through the
county.

• Columbia — about 40 miles northwest
• Charleston — about 65 miles southeast
• Sumter — about 35 miles northeast
• Walterboro — about 35 miles south

Columbia Metropolitan Airport is the nearest major commercial airport, reached via I-26.
Orangeburg Municipal Airport, inside the county, handles general aviation only. The nearest
Amtrak station is in Denmark, in neighboring Bamberg County.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Orangeburg County located?
It sits in South Carolina’s Midlands region, about 37 miles southeast of Columbia, bordered
by nine other counties.

What is the population of Orangeburg County?
84,223 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 83,253.

How big is Orangeburg County?
1,128 square miles in total, of which 1,106 square miles are land and 22 square miles are Lake
Marion and other water.

What is the postal code of Orangeburg County?
Orangeburg, the county seat, uses ZIP codes 29115 through 29118.

What is the county seat of Orangeburg County?
Orangeburg is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated city.

How many towns and villages are in Orangeburg County?
One city and 16 incorporated towns, plus three census-designated places — Brookdale, Edisto
and Wilkinson Heights — and roughly a hundred more unincorporated crossroads communities
with no population figures of their own.

What is Orangeburg County known for?
The Orangeburg Massacre of 1968, two historically black colleges in Orangeburg city, and Lake
Marion’s golf-and-lake resort economy around Santee.

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