Anderson County, South Carolina

Anderson County is a county in South Carolina, United States, in the state’s northwest corner
near the Georgia line. It had a population of 203,718 at the 2020 census, an estimated 219,930 by
2025, and covers 755.76 square miles (1,957.4 km2) centred near 34°31′N 82°38′W.

Anderson is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 29621. The county
holds 1 city, 8 incorporated towns and 5 unincorporated communities across the county, and it runs
on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 45007.

Towns & Villages in Anderson County

Anderson County has 14 named places on record: 9 incorporated cities and towns and 5
unincorporated communities the Census Bureau recognizes as census-designated places. CDP stands
for census designated place; South Carolina has no civil townships, so places here are grouped by
county alone.

Two entries deserve a note. Honea Path straddles the Anderson-Abbeville line, so its 3,686
residents are split between the two counties, most of them on the Anderson side. Piedmont, a
former Saluda River mill village, straddles Anderson and Greenville counties; its full 5,411
population is a combined citywide figure, not an Anderson-only count. A third place, Clemson,
sits almost entirely in Pickens County — only about 40 of its 17,681 residents live on a
sliver of annexed land inside Anderson County, so it is not listed above as an Anderson place.

ZIP Codes

• 29621 — Anderson (the county’s main ZIP; 29622–29626 cover Anderson post office boxes and university/business addresses)
• 29627 — Belton
• 29697 — Williamston
• 29654 — Honea Path
• 29670 — Pendleton
• 29669 — Pelzer
• 29655 — Iva
• 29684 — Starr
• 29689 — Townville
• 29673 — Piedmont

West Pelzer, Powdersville, Sandy Springs and Homeland Park have no ZIP code of their own; mail to
each is delivered under a neighboring town’s code rather than a dedicated one.

Geography

Anderson County sits on South Carolina’s Piedmont plateau, a belt of rolling hills between the
Blue Ridge foothills and the coastal plain. Of its 755.76 square miles, 713.85 are land and 41.91
are water, about 5.5 percent — unusually high for the Piedmont, because Hartwell Lake, a
Savannah River reservoir, forms much of the county’s southwestern edge. The Saluda River crosses
the county’s northeastern corner through Pelzer, West Pelzer, Williamston and Piedmont, where it
once powered a string of 19th-century textile mills.

Pickens County lies to the northwest, Greenville County to the northeast, Laurens County to the
east, Abbeville County to the southeast, Oconee County to the west across Hartwell Lake, and
Georgia’s Hart and Elbert counties to the south and southwest across the Savannah River. Pickens County, Greenville County, Laurens County, Abbeville County, Oconee County, Hart County and Elbert County all border Anderson
directly.

Demographics

Anderson County had a population of 203,718 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 219,930 residents. Anderson city and Powdersville are the two largest communities,
together holding roughly a fifth of the county’s population. Median household income runs
$66,651, close to South Carolina’s statewide 2023 ACS figure of $67,804. Population density works
out to roughly 285 people per square mile of land at the 2020 count, rising to about 308 per
square mile on the 2025 estimate, reflecting the county’s place inside the Greenville-Anderson
metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most workers in the county, about 18,460 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 14,097 and retail trade at 11,317. Michelin and Bosch both run major
manufacturing plants in the county, part of an automotive-and-industrial cluster that gives
Anderson County one of South Carolina’s highest shares of manufacturing employment. AnMed Health
Medical Center, based in Anderson, is the county’s largest health care employer, and Anderson
University, a private university tracing back to an 1851 female seminary, anchors the city’s
east side. Glen Raven, Ingles, Walmart and Walgreens round out the county’s largest employers.
Belton hosts the county’s best-known local festival, the Belton Standpipe Festival, held each
year around the town’s 1908 water tower landmark.

History

South Carolina’s legislature created Anderson County in 1826, carving it from the dissolved
Pendleton District. It was named for Robert Anderson, a Revolutionary War general and legislator.
Anderson, the county seat, was incorporated on 19 December 1833 and earned the nickname “The
Electric City” after becoming one of the first cities in the region with electric power, in
1895.

The county’s mill villages carry a harder history. On 6 September 1934, during a nationwide
textile strike, factory guards at the Chiquola Mill in Honea Path shot and killed six picketers and
wounded roughly thirty more, one of the deadliest incidents of the 1934 general textile strike.
Pelzer and Piedmont grew the same way, as Saluda River mill towns built around 19th-century cotton
factories; the Pelzer mill was the first textile plant in the country wired for incandescent
lighting.

Getting There

Interstate 85 crosses the county’s northeastern corner through Powdersville and Piedmont. US 29,
US 76 and US 178 also run through the county, along with SC 8, SC 20, SC 24, SC 28, SC 81, SC 88,
SC 187, SC 247 and SC 252.

• Greenville — about 30 miles northeast
• Clemson — about 15 miles west
• Atlanta, Georgia — about 120 miles southwest
• Charlotte, North Carolina — about 140 miles northeast

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, about 30 miles northeast of Anderson, is the
nearest major commercial airport. Anderson Regional Airport, on the city’s north side, handles
general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak’s Crescent line stops at the Clemson station, about
15 miles west of Anderson, connecting to Atlanta and Charlotte.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Anderson County located?
It sits in South Carolina’s northwestern corner, on the Piedmont plateau near the Georgia line,
bordered by Pickens, Greenville, Laurens, Abbeville and Oconee counties and Georgia’s Hart and
Elbert counties.

What is the population of Anderson County?
203,718 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 219,930.

How big is Anderson County?
755.76 square miles (1,957.4 km2), of which 713.85 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Anderson County?
Anderson is the county seat and largest city, incorporated in 1833.

How many towns and cities are in Anderson County?
One city, Anderson, plus eight incorporated towns — Belton, Honea Path, Iva, Pelzer,
Pendleton, Starr, West Pelzer and Williamston — and five census-designated places: Powdersville,
Homeland Park, Piedmont, Sandy Springs and Townville.

What ZIP codes does Anderson County use?
29621 for Anderson, 29627 for Belton, 29654 for Honea Path, 29670 for Pendleton, 29669 for Pelzer,
29655 for Iva, 29684 for Starr, 29689 for Townville and 29673 for Piedmont.

What is Anderson County known for?
Its 19th-century Saluda River textile mills, Hartwell Lake, and Anderson city’s history as one
of the first electrified cities in the South.

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