These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In South Carolina


We used science and data to determine which South Carolina cities probably wear tie dye the most.

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You might think that the whole hippie movement has faded away, but the truth is, there are plenty of hippies out there in South Carolina.

While they aren’t necessarily in your face all the time with war protests and the next Woodstock isn’t being planned any time soon, we thought it would be fun to look at which cities in the Palmetto State where the most hippies would live.

And, after crunching the data, you know what? It was pretty spot on, we have to say.

How do you decide where the most hippies live? By the number of yoga studios, organic markets, and most importantly, where the liberals live in droves.

Using that criteria, it’s not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where hippies might live in South Carolina, and then put out a list.

So, put on your tie dye shirt and your sandals as you go through this list with us.

After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list of the 10 best cities for hippies in South Carolina:

  1. Forest Acres
  2. Georgetown (Photos)
  3. James Island
  4. Irmo
  5. Cayce (Photos)
  6. Beaufort (Photos)
  7. North Myrtle Beach (Photos)
  8. Seneca (Photos)
  9. Hanahan (Photos)
  10. Mauldin

Read on below to see where your town ranked, young flower child.

And if you already knew these places were hippie heavens, check out the best places to live in South Carolina or the safest places to live in South Carolina.

How do you determine the most beatnik city in South Carolina?

In order to rank the best cities for hippies in South Carolina, we had to determine what criteria defines a hippie.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Google Places API, the Census’s 2010-2014 American Community Survey, and Voter Registration data, this is the criteria we used:

  • Number of yoga studios per capita
  • Number of organic markets per capita
  • Number of pet adoption centers per capita
  • Number of vegan restaurants per capita
  • Number of thrift stores per capita
  • Each city’s liberal voting population

Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a ~4.5 mile radius of a city’s center. The average city in America is about 18 square miles.

All of these results are listed in a per capita basis, meaning number of stores per person in a city. Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 5,000 people.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 70 in each category, where 1 was the most hippie.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a hippie index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the highest hippie index the ‘Best City for Hippies In South Carolina.’ We’re lookin’ at you, Forest Acres.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in hippie central. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from hippiest to most square.

1. Forest Acres

Forest Acres, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.33
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.38
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.47
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.66
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.52

2. Georgetown

Georgetown, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.66
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.22
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.55
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.44
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.1
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Sampit rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year. Georgetown is also the birthplace of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s grandfather, Fraser Robinson. Many of Michelle Obama’s relatives still reside in Georgetown.

3. James Island

James Island, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.14
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.09
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.7
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.79
James Island is a town in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. It is located in the central and southern parts of James Island. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, James Island is included within the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metropolitan area and the Charleston-North Charleston Urbanized Area.

4. Irmo



Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.09
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.26
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.96
Irmo is a town in Lexington and Richland counties, South Carolina, United States and a suburb of Columbia. It is part of the Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the city center. The population of Irmo was 11,097 at the 2010 census.

5. Cayce

Cayce, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 1.24
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.31
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.39
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.39
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.16
Cayce is a city in Lexington and Richland counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, along the Congaree River. The population was 12,528 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

6. Beaufort

Beaufort, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.55
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.16
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.16
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.31
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.26
Beaufort (/bjufrt/ BEW-frt, a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city’s population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is a primary city within the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

7. North Myrtle Beach

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.35
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.21
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.83

8. Seneca

Seneca, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.37
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.49
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.12
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 1.6
Seneca is a city in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,102 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Seneca Micropolitan Statistical Area (population 74,273 at the 2010 census), an (MSA) which includes all of Oconee County and which is further included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area (population 1,266,995 at the 2010 census).

9. Hanahan

Hanahan, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.11
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.32
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.63

10. Mauldin

Mauldin, South Carolina

Source: Wikipedia

Yoga Studios Per 1,000 People: 0.25
Organic Markets Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Pet Adoption Centers Per 1,000 People: 0.13
Vegan Restaurants Per 1,000 People: 0.17
Thrift Stores Per 1,000 People: 0.79
Mauldin is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 15,224 at the 2000 census, 22,889 in 2010, and an estimated 25,135 in 2015. It is a principal city of the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area.

There You Have It — The Hippies Of South Carolina

If you’re measuring the locations in South Carolina where there are lots of liberals, and there are many options for vegan food, yoga and thrift stores, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious, here are the most square places in South Carolina:

  1. Greer
  2. Central
  3. Georgetown

For more South Carolina reading , check out:

Detailed List Of The Hippiest Cities In South Carolina

City Rank Population
Forest Acres 1 10,533
Georgetown 2 9,110
James Island 3 11,451
Irmo 4 11,518
Cayce 5 12,944
Beaufort 6 12,702
North Myrtle Beach 7 14,485
Seneca 8 8,147
Hanahan 9 18,999
Mauldin 10 23,985
Fountain Inn 11 8,031
Central 12 5,170
Fort Mill 13 12,068
West Columbia 14 15,623
Anderson 15 26,798
North Augusta 16 21,832
Myrtle Beach 17 28,455
Orangeburg 18 13,790
Tega Cay 19 8,224
Greenville 20 60,670
Camden 21 6,931
Spartanburg 22 37,216
Lexington 23 19,007
Mount Pleasant 24 72,379
Hilton Head Island 25 38,497
Walterboro 26 5,339
Florence 27 37,512
Georgetown 28 9,110
Clemson 29 14,254
Charleston 30 125,458
Bluffton 31 13,979
Port Royal 32 11,264
Simpsonville 33 19,219
Aiken 34 29,980
Summerville 35 44,717
Greer 36 26,626
Cheraw 37 5,809
Greenwood 38 23,296
Gaffney 39 12,565
Goose Creek 40 38,545
Chester 41 5,543
Hartsville 42 7,857
Georgetown 43 9,110
Rock Hill 44 68,185
Abbeville 45 5,207
Sumter 46 40,819
Columbia 47 131,331
Georgetown 48 9,110
Bennettsville 49 8,928
North Charleston 50 102,143
Dillon 51 6,731
York 52 7,913
Marion 53 6,833
Darlington 54 6,232
Easley 55 20,242
Georgetown 56 9,110
Conway 57 18,645
Lancaster 58 8,801
Batesburg-Leesville 59 5,242
Union 60 8,191
Moncks Corner 61 8,711
Newberry 62 10,259
Clinton 63 8,525
Laurens 64 9,136
Central 65 5,170
Union 66 8,191
Clover 67 5,321
Georgetown 68 9,110
Central 69 5,170
Greer 70 26,626

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.