We used Saturday Night Science to analyze South Carolina’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in South Carolina based on the percentage of currently divorced residents.
The city with the highest divorce rate in South Carolina is Bennettsville, with 9.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data. The city with the lowest divorce rate in South Carolina is Bluffton.
South Carolina is 5.0% divorced overall. There are some 211,849 people living in South Carolina over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced.
Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.
So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in South Carolina with the highest rates of divorcees.
9.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Marlboro County, South Carolina
Bennettsville is a city located in the U.S. state of South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. As the county seat of Marlboro County, Bennettsville is noted for its historic homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries – including the Bennettsville Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Laurens County, South Carolina
Laurens is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,139 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Laurens County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Union County, South Carolina
The city of Union is the county seat of Union County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,393 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Union Micropolitan Statistical Area, an which includes all of Union County and which is further included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Cherokee County, South Carolina
Gaffney is a town in and the seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the “Peach Capital of South Carolina”. The population was 12,539 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 12,597 in 2014. It is the principal city of the Gaffney, South Carolina, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Cherokee County and which is further included in the greater Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, South Carolina Combined Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Darlington County, South Carolina
Hartsville is the largest city in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,768 at the 2016 census. Hartsville was chosen as an All-America City in 1996 and again in 2016. Hartsville has also been a National Arbor Day Foundation Tree City since 1986.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Lancaster County, South Carolina
The city of Lancaster is the county seat of Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States, located in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. As of the United States Census of 2010, the city population was 9,134 but due to South Carolina’s strict annexation laws its actual population is well over twenty thousand people. The city was named after the famous House of Lancaster. Locally, Lancaster is pronounced LAYN-ks-tr, rather than the usual American pronunciation LAN-kas-tr. The modern British pronunciation is LANG-kas-tr.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Dillon County, South Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Darlington County, South Carolina
Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2016, its population was 6,117. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Florence County, South Carolina
Florence is a city in Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It is probably best known for being the intersection of I-95 and I-20, and the eastern terminus of I-20. It is the county seat of Florence County and the primary city within the Florence metropolitan area. The area forms the core of the historical “Pee Dee” region of South Carolina, which includes the eight counties of northeastern South Carolina, along with sections of southeastern North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population of Florence was 37,056, and the estimated population in 2015 was 38,228.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in South Carolina
Located in
Chester County, South Carolina
Chester is a small rural city in Chester County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,607 at the 2010 census, down from 6,476 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Chester County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is South Carolina’s statewide median.
South Carolina statewide median: $69,324
On the map
Where South Carolina’s highest divorce rates are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Places In South Carolina That Get Un-Hitched The Most
We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2020-2024 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status. Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:
Today, the analysis focuses on the 64 places in South Carolina with a population of over 5,000.
- Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced
We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of South Carolina the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Bennettsville.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Bluffton, the city with the lowest divorce rate in South Carolina. We updated this article for 2026 and this list is our eleventh time ranking the cities in South Carolina with the highest divorce rates.
The full plate
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In South Carolina
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Bennettsville | 7,751 | 558 | 9.0% |
| 2 | Laurens | 9,336 | 672 | 9.0% |
| 2 | Union | 8,079 | 582 | 9.0% |
| 7 | Gaffney | 12,596 | 806 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Hartsville | 7,419 | 475 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Lancaster | 8,921 | 571 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Dillon | 6,354 | 407 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Darlington | 6,120 | 392 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Florence | 40,408 | 2,586 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Chester | 5,218 | 334 | 8.0% |
| 7 | Seneca | 8,993 | 576 | 8.0% |
| 16 | Georgetown | 8,565 | 480 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Spartanburg | 38,910 | 2,179 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Hollywood | 5,382 | 301 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Cayce | 13,741 | 769 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Lake City | 5,988 | 335 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Sumter | 43,053 | 2,411 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Lexington | 24,585 | 1,377 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Camden | 8,267 | 463 | 7.0% |
| 16 | West Columbia | 17,963 | 1,006 | 7.0% |
| 16 | Marion | 6,206 | 348 | 7.0% |
| 25 | Irmo | 11,813 | 567 | 6.0% |
| 25 | Forest Acres | 10,530 | 505 | 6.0% |
| 25 | North Charleston | 119,913 | 5,756 | 6.0% |
| 25 | Walterboro | 5,480 | 263 | 6.0% |
| 25 | Greenwood | 22,536 | 1,082 | 6.0% |
| 25 | York | 8,969 | 431 | 6.0% |
| 25 | Anderson | 30,051 | 1,442 | 6.0% |
| 25 | Fountain Inn | 12,020 | 577 | 6.0% |
| 32 | Moncks Corner | 15,485 | 619 | 5.0% |
| 32 | Easley | 24,841 | 994 | 5.0% |
| 32 | Greer | 41,536 | 1,661 | 5.0% |
| 32 | Newberry | 10,790 | 432 | 5.0% |
| 32 | Orangeburg | 13,253 | 530 | 5.0% |
| 32 | Rock Hill | 75,259 | 3,010 | 5.0% |
| 39 | Hanahan | 21,452 | 686 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Beaufort | 13,747 | 440 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Charleston | 154,338 | 4,939 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Summerville | 51,654 | 1,653 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Clinton | 7,676 | 246 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Simpsonville | 26,144 | 837 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Columbia | 139,643 | 4,469 | 4.0% |
| 39 | Greenville | 72,935 | 2,334 | 4.0% |
| 49 | James Island | 12,198 | 293 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Conway | 27,263 | 654 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Clover | 7,234 | 174 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Clemson | 18,072 | 434 | 3.0% |
| 49 | North Myrtle Beach | 19,855 | 477 | 3.0% |
| 49 | North Augusta | 25,653 | 616 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Aiken | 32,521 | 781 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Mount Pleasant | 93,993 | 2,256 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Goose Creek | 48,078 | 1,154 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Myrtle Beach | 38,371 | 921 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Lyman | 6,547 | 157 | 3.0% |
| 57 | Blythewood | 5,731 | 92 | 2.0% |
| 57 | Hardeeville | 10,871 | 174 | 2.0% |
| 57 | Travelers Rest | 8,370 | 134 | 2.0% |
| 57 | Fort Mill | 30,775 | 492 | 2.0% |
| 57 | Mauldin | 27,055 | 433 | 2.0% |
| 57 | Central | 5,320 | 85 | 2.0% |
| 61 | Port Royal | 15,579 | 125 | 1.0% |
| 61 | Hilton Head Island | 37,911 | 303 | 1.0% |
| 63 | Tega Cay | 13,615 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 63 | Bluffton | 33,157 | 0 | 0.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 64 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Getting Some Closure In South Carolina After Untying The Knot
We now have a sense of what places in the Palmetto State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in South Carolina are Bennettsville, Laurens, Union, Gaffney, Hartsville, Lancaster, Dillon, Darlington, Florence, and Chester.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in South Carolina could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
