The 10 Most Conservative Cities In South Carolina For 2023


The most conservative cities in South Carolina are Easley and Central for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Nick Johnson | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: November 3, 2023

Now that we’re headed towards the next big election, we wanted to get a better sense of what parts of South Carolina would be the most likely to back Donald Trump again.

Specifically, which cities have the highest number of conservative voters in the Palmetto State?

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to measure how each city in South Carolina with populations greater than 5,000 voted in past elections. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Republican were named the most conservative cities in the state.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 10 most conservative places in South Carolina for 2023

  1. Easley
  2. Central
  3. Clemson
  4. Seneca
  5. Gaffney
  6. Anderson
  7. Batesburg-Leesville
  8. Myrtle Beach
  9. Conway
  10. North Myrtle Beach

If you’re wondering, Forest Acres is the most liberal city in South Carolina of all those we measured.

And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our own biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most conservative cities in South Carolina.

Additional reading about South Carolina and the most conservative places in the country:

The 10 Most Conservative Places In South Carolina For 2023

1. Easley

Easley, SC

Source: Flickr User MikeKalasnik | CC BY-SA 2.0

Percent Republican: 74.6%
More on Easley: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

2. Central

Central, SC

Source: Flickr User ~ wryonedwards ~ | CC BY-ND 2.0

Percent Republican: 74.6%
More on Central: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

3. Clemson

Clemson, SC

Source: Wikipedia User blahedo | CC BY-SA 2.5

Percent Republican: 74.6%
More on Clemson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

4. Seneca

Seneca, SC

Source: Public domain

Percent Republican: 73.0%
More on Seneca: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

5. Gaffney

Gaffney, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Bill Fitzpatrick | CC BY-SA 3.0

Percent Republican: 71.4%
More on Gaffney: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

6. Anderson

Anderson, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Skywalker195 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Percent Republican: 70.3%
More on Anderson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

7. Batesburg-Leesville

Batesburg-Leesville, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Bill Fitzpatrick | CC BY-SA 3.0

Percent Republican: 67.0%
More on Batesburg-Leesville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

8. Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach, SC

Source: Public domain

Percent Republican: 66.1%
More on Myrtle Beach: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

9. Conway

Conway, SC

Source: Public domain

Percent Republican: 66.1%
More on Conway: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

10. North Myrtle Beach

North Myrtle Beach, SC

Source: Wikipedia User Melikamp | CC BY-SA 3.0

Percent Republican: 66.1%
More on North Myrtle Beach: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

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How we determined the most conservative cities in South Carolina for 2023

To find the most conservative places in South Carolina, we used Saturday Night Science – the argument you’d make at a bar – to find the cities with the most conservatives.

We started by making a list of every city in South Carolina over 5,000 people based on the 2017-2021 American Community Survey. That left us with 65 cities and towns.

We then measured the voting record and MIT election data to determine which places rock the most rightward in their allegiances by:

  1. Percentage Of Votes For The Republican President In 2020

Because no voting data exists at the city level, we used county-level election results from the 2020 election. We assigned every city in a county the percentage of votes that went to the Republicans, effectively extending the county’s results to the city level. In cases where larger cities encompassed an entire county, the election outcomes accurately reflected the city’s political landscape.

Next, we ranked each city from 1 to 65 for each criterion, where number one was the most conservative.

The winner, Easley, is “The Most Conservative City in South Carolina For 2023”. The most liberal place in South Carolina was Forest Acres.

We updated this article for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the most conservative places to live in South Carolina.

Summing Up The Conservative Strongholds in South Carolina

Well, there you have it, the places in South Carolina that have the highest number of conservatives per capita, with Easley ranking as the most conservative in the entire state.

If you’re curious, here are the least conservative cities in South Carolina:

  1. Forest Acres
  2. Orangeburg
  3. Marion

For more South Carolina reading, check out:

Most Conservative Places In South Carolina

Rank City Population % Conservative
1 Easley, SC 22,643 74.6%
2 Central, SC 5,229 74.6%
3 Clemson, SC 17,238 74.6%
4 Seneca, SC 8,734 73.0%
5 Gaffney, SC 12,560 71.4%
6 Anderson, SC 28,796 70.3%
7 Batesburg-Leesville, SC 5,322 67.0%
8 Myrtle Beach, SC 35,116 66.1%
9 Conway, SC 22,001 66.1%
10 North Myrtle Beach, SC 18,502 66.1%
11 Laurens, SC 9,251 65.6%
12 Fountain Inn, SC 10,237 65.6%
13 Clinton, SC 7,753 65.6%
14 Cayce, SC 13,637 64.2%
15 West Columbia, SC 17,265 64.2%
16 Irmo, SC 11,581 64.2%
17 Lexington, SC 23,068 64.2%
18 Columbia, SC 137,276 64.2%
19 Greer, SC 35,151 62.9%
20 Lyman, SC 5,841 62.9%
21 Spartanburg, SC 37,990 62.9%
22 Union, SC 8,119 61.7%
23 North Augusta, SC 24,013 61.5%
24 Newberry, SC 10,496 61.4%
25 Camden, SC 7,666 60.9%
26 Lancaster, SC 8,489 60.8%
27 Greenwood, SC 22,363 60.7%
28 Aiken, SC 31,516 60.6%
29 Cheraw, SC 5,090 59.8%
30 Greenville, SC 69,725 58.1%
31 Mauldin, SC 24,735 58.1%
32 Simpsonville, SC 23,190 58.1%
33 Travelers Rest, SC 7,670 58.1%
34 Rock Hill, SC 72,883 57.4%
35 Tega Cay, SC 12,336 57.4%
36 York, SC 8,423 57.4%
37 Clover, SC 6,566 57.4%
38 Fort Mill, SC 24,069 57.4%
39 Georgetown, SC 8,435 55.9%
40 Chester, SC 5,283 55.0%
41 Summerville, SC 50,318 54.9%
42 Charleston, SC 147,928 54.9%
43 North Charleston, SC 114,542 54.9%
44 Moncks Corner, SC 12,685 54.9%
45 Hanahan, SC 20,381 54.9%
46 Goose Creek, SC 44,502 54.9%
47 Hardeeville, SC 7,228 54.4%
48 Port Royal, SC 12,734 54.4%
49 Bluffton, SC 27,596 54.4%
50 Beaufort, SC 12,899 54.4%
51 Hilton Head Island, SC 38,068 54.4%
52 Walterboro, SC 5,514 54.1%
53 Hartsville, SC 7,565 51.9%
54 Darlington, SC 6,153 51.9%
55 Lake City, SC 6,028 50.6%
56 Florence, SC 39,816 50.6%
57 Dillon, SC 6,354 50.2%
58 Bennettsville, SC 7,306 44.1%
59 Sumter, SC 42,920 42.9%
60 Mount Pleasant, SC 88,900 42.6%
61 James Island, SC 11,618 42.6%
62 Hollywood, SC 5,319 42.6%
63 Marion, SC 6,472 38.8%
64 Orangeburg, SC 12,779 33.0%
65 Forest Acres, SC 10,621 30.1%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.

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