Aiken is home to 32,521 people (interval of 32) and ranks 16th among the 268 incorporated places South Carolina reports in the latest ACS window. It is the county seat and belongs to the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC metro. ACS owner-occupied values typically come in at $286,800 (interval of $14,782), about 32 percent above the Aiken County midpoint of $218,000 and about 11 percent above South Carolina at $259,000. Pay typically lands at $76,746 (interval of $5,591), about 11 percent above South Carolina pay of $69,324 and above Aiken County at $70,609. Dividing house value by earnings produces about 3.7 years of local pay, compared with about 3.1 years across Aiken County, because city houses cost more than the rest of the county while pay runs only a bit higher.
No Aiken storefront is staffed by this company. Quotes are built in Charlotte, a trip of about 127 miles from Aiken’s city hall. The office is at 128 South Tryon Street; request suite 1933 when you arrive. Company NMLS 2468711 is the South Carolina license on those files. Most paperwork moves electronically; a Charlotte appointment can be booked if someone prefers to meet in person.
A 46.6-year midpoint and a 29.1 percent share age 65 or older
Aiken’s median resident is 46.6 years old (interval of 3.2 years), older than the statewide age of 40.2 and older than the national reading at 38.9. America by Place ranks that age above about 82 percent of South Carolina cities reporting the item. Only 17.3 percent of residents are under 18, below South Carolina’s 21.4 percent child share. Residents 65 or older account for 29.1 percent, far above the statewide 18.9 percent share. That older profile helps explain why just 53.8 percent of Aiken owner-homes still carry a mortgage lien, close to the county mortgaged share of 52.9 percent and well below many younger South Carolina suburbs.
Where income relative to the federal poverty line is known, 17.0 percent of Aiken residents fall below it (interval of 2.7 points), above South Carolina’s 14.1 percent poverty rate. Among adults 25 or older, 94.3 percent finished high school (interval of 4.9 points) and 47.7 percent completed a four-year degree or more (interval of 4.0 points). Aiken’s college-completion rate stands well above the 32.1 percent statewide mark and above nine in ten South Carolina cities publishing the item. About 3.3 percent of Aiken residents were born overseas (interval of 0.9 points). Roughly 4.7 percent of Aiken households lack internet service (Census interval 1.5 points). Pair that with the 29.1 percent share of residents age 65 or older and the 53.8 percent mortgaged-owner share, and Aiken starts to look less like a first-time-buyer suburb and more like an older, highly educated county seat where a larger fraction of owner-homes are owned free and clear. The 47.7 percent bachelor’s share is the other half of that picture: it is well above the statewide 32.1 percent reading and helps explain why in-town values sit 32 percent above the rest of Aiken County even though in-town ownership trails the county rate.
Owner-homes 32 percent above the Aiken County reading
The city has 13,275 occupied households: 9,037 owned and 4,238 rented. Ownership stands at 68.1 percent of those households (Census interval 3.8 points). That rate trails Aiken County at 76.5 percent and sits near South Carolina at 71.9 percent. The useful contrast is city versus county: households inside the city own at a lower rate than the rest of Aiken County even though city houses cost about 32 percent more. A first lien remains on 53.8 percent of Aiken owner-homes. Owners typically moved in around 2011. Renters typically moved in around 2019. Yearly owner taxes in Aiken hover near $1,273, well above Aiken County at $897 and close to the statewide $1,251 tax reading, because city millage is stacked on the county levy.
Typical monthly rent is $1,180 (interval of $54), matching South Carolina’s rent midpoint and above Aiken County rent of $1,062. About 55.9 percent of Aiken renters devote 30 percent of household earnings, or more, to rent, above the county share of 44.9 percent. The published split puts 23.8 percent of renters under a one-fifth rent-to-pay ratio, 20.3 percent between 20 and 29.9 percent, and 37.5 percent putting half of earnings, or more, toward rent. About 10.0 percent of Aiken adults have military service, almost even with the county share of 9.8 percent. Veterans who qualify can request a VA side-by-side quote. The city’s ACS jobless estimate is 5.4 percent (Census interval 1.7 points). Across Aiken County, last September’s BLS reading was 3.6 percent, published without seasonal adjustment.
A house-heavy stock and almost no manufactured housing
Of Aiken’s 15,345 dwellings, 11,148 are detached houses (72.6 percent). Townhouse-style units add 1,145 homes (7.5 percent), a thicker attached slice than many South Carolina cities of similar size. Duplexes contribute 503 dwellings (3.3 percent). Three-to-four-unit properties hold 804 homes (5.2 percent). Homes in the 5-9 band number 885 (5.8 percent). Homes in the 10-19 band number 232 (1.5 percent). Buildings in the 20-to-49 range hold 268 (1.7 percent), and the largest buildings, those with 50 or more homes, hold 311 (2.0 percent). Manufactured homes number only 49, or 0.3 percent of the city stock, a much thinner manufactured slice than in most South Carolina markets.
Add the larger buildings together and 11.1 percent of Aiken housing sits in buildings with five or more dwellings, with 5.3 percent in buildings with ten or more, versus 5.5 percent of Aiken County units in that five-or-more group. Buying inside one of those larger Aiken buildings usually means pulling together the HOA packet and, on a government-backed loan, completing the project-review paperwork. Aiken houses typically date to 1989, matching Aiken County housing (1989) and a bit older than the statewide housing midpoint (1992). Vacancy is 13.5 percent of the 15,345 units (interval of 2.5 points), similar to the statewide vacancy reading of 13.3 percent.
National-floor FHA after a $315,000 HUD price estimate
Aiken addresses all sit in Aiken County, so the 2026 one-unit limits printed for Aiken County apply: FHA at $541,287 and a conforming conventional note through $832,750. HUD’s metro price estimate was $315,000, which leaves FHA sitting on the nationwide floor instead of raising it. The $286,800 ACS reading, and even $301,582 after adding the $14,782 interval, both come in under that $541,287 FHA step. Veterans who qualify can also request a VA quote. Monthly FHA charges are summarized on the FHA explainer.
On a three-unit Aiken property, conventional financing remains inside conforming limits up to $1,288,800 and FHA can reach $837,700. When a file needs extra funds at the table, we look up Aiken County’s current income and sales-price rows on the authority’s current charts instead of repeating a leftover table from a prior year. Statewide program notes are assembled on our statewide programs page. Investors comparing rental financing in Aiken can read the DSCR overview.
North Augusta thirteen miles down the road
Thirteen miles toward the river, North Augusta houses 25,653 people. Owner-homes there typically land near $233,600, household pay near $86,092, and 70.5 percent of households own. Lexington, a longer 43-mile hop, counts 24,585 people with owner-homes near $297,700 and pay near $87,126. West Columbia, about 48 miles, has 17,963 residents, owner-homes near $201,700 and pay near $56,912. Cayce is about 49 miles: 13,741 residents, owner-homes near $166,800 and pay near $62,045. Orangeburg, about 50 miles, has 13,253 residents, owner-homes near $163,500 and pay near $38,635. Irmo is also about 50 miles: 11,813 residents, owner-homes near $203,400 and pay near $80,489. Greenwood, about 52 miles, has 22,536 residents, owner-homes near $136,300 and pay near $41,150. Newberry, likewise about 52 miles, has 10,790 residents, owner-homes near $142,400 and pay near $51,260. Inside Aiken County, Burnettown’s 3,135 residents show owner-homes near $189,800 on pay near $50,347, with ownership at 80.9 percent; New Ellenton’s 2,837 residents show owner-homes near $174,200 on pay near $58,476, with ownership at 72.6 percent; and Jackson’s 1,870 residents show owner-homes near $199,800 on pay near $39,634, with ownership at 75.0 percent. Those neighboring midpoints stretch from Greenwood at $136,300 to Lexington at $297,700. Aiken’s own $286,800 reading sits toward the high end of that span and well above the rest of Aiken County.
1,014 county listings and a 70-day wait
Last September, Aiken County sellers asked a midpoint of $338,900, which was 3.0 percent below the prior September. Inventory stood at 1,014 homes after a 26.5 percent year-over-year increase. Contracts typically arrived in 70 days, a wait 2.9 percent longer than the prior September. Reduced asks appeared on 22.7 percent of the file. Fresh listings totaled 318, a 16.1 percent rise, while 383 properties were already under contract after an 11.5 percent decline. Square-foot asking prices averaged $171, down 0.9 percent. That county midpoint ask sits well above Aiken’s $286,800 ACS owner-home value, because the tape mixes costlier streets outside the city with lower-priced county towns such as Burnettown and New Ellenton. Any given Aiken street can come in above or below either benchmark.
Neither the multi-year ACS city jobless reading nor last September’s BLS county rate takes the place of the pay records collected for each applicant.
City millage that runs above the rest of Aiken County
Occupied-home classification does not happen on its own. A buyer who intends to occupy the Aiken house as a home should file with the Aiken County assessor after the move-in. Primary residences, second homes and rentals receive different assessment treatment under statute 12-43-220. Notes on statewide exemptions live on the revenue department site; the local filing window comes from the Aiken County assessor.
If a creek or drainage channel runs near the lot, look up the parcel on the FEMA flood map before you write an offer. The purchaser chooses a South Carolina attorney to conduct the Aiken closing. Earnest-money amounts and inspection periods belong in the sales contract. A two-Carolina cost list of the headings that typically appear on a settlement statement lives on our closing-costs page.
More pages: Aiken County, North Augusta, Lexington, Greenwood and South Carolina.
Remarks from borrowers who mention Aiken or the CSRA
The remarks below keep the wording people typed. A few name Aiken, North Augusta or another town along the Savannah River.
Sources used for the Aiken numbers
Aiken’s population and housing counts, and the comparisons with nearby cities, come from 2020-2024 ACS tables hosted by America by Place along with Census Reporter. Aiken County listing totals for September are drawn from Realtor.com. Conventional limits are issued by FHFA. FHA limits are published by HUD, after an estimated metro price of $315,000 kept the one-unit cap on the nationwide floor at $541,287. The 3.6 percent Aiken County jobless rate last September comes from a BLS series that skips seasonal adjustment.
Sketching an Aiken payment around one lot
An Aiken payment sketch layers the note on top of that lot’s millage, a policy fitted to houses that often date to about 1989, flood insurance if the federal map requires it, and association charges when a neighborhood bills them. The $1,273 ACS tax reading is a citywide midpoint, not a bill for one street.
If the house will be your full-time residence, send occupied-home paperwork to the Aiken County assessor once the deed is recorded. Sharing that confirmation helps us review whether the tax reserve is large enough.
Tapping equity after the Aiken closing
Aiken homeowners seeking cash from equity in a house they already own should start with the HELOC overview. Pointing that line at a second purchase is outlined on the bridge-loan page. The rest of the page is about buying.
