South Carolina is home to some of the richest people in America including billionaires Anita Zucker and Robert Faith. Here is a list of the 8 richest towns in South Carolina. The information presented in this article is based on data from the US Census American Community Survey and Forbes. The rankings are based on median household income.

1. Kiawah Island, SC

Kiawah Island is the wealthiest town in South Carolina. Kiawah Island is a luxury beach town in South Carolina where residents enjoy resort living and breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean. It is located in South Carolina’s Charleston county, just 25 miles from downtown Charleston. Kiawah Island residents are wealthy with a median household income of $216,750. The poverty rate of Kiawah Island is very low at 3.3% (compare this to the 14.6% poverty rate in the state of South Carolina).

Home values in Kiawah Island are high with a median home value of $1,442,000. Most of the homes in Kiawah Island are primarily owner-occupied with only 1.4% rentals and 98.6% owner-occupied.

Kiawah Island has a population of 2,013. Its affluent residents are well educated with 87.4% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Over half of Kiawah Island residents are senior citizens over 65 years old (58%). The average commute to work for Kiawah Island’s residents is 33.5 minutes.

2. Sullivan’s Island, SC

Sullivan’s Island is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Sullivan’s Island is an affluent beach town where residents enjoy stunning sunsets and the conveniences of being a few miles from downtown Charleston. It is located in South Carolina’s Charleston county. Sullivan’s Island residents are wealthy with a median household income of $157,743.

Buying property in Sullivan’s Island is really expensive with an average median home value of $3,937,500 for homes sold in 2022 (source: Redfin). Most of the homes in Sullivan’s Island are primarily owner-occupied with only 17.3% rentals and 82.7% owner-occupied.

Sullivan’s Island has a small population of 1,891. Its affluent residents are well educated with 84.% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average commute to work for Sullivan’s Island’s residents is 19.9 minutes.

3. Briarcliffe Acres, SC

Briarcliffe Acres is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. It is an exclusive enclave with a private beach that is near the shops and restaurants of Myrtle Beach. It is located in South Carolina’s Horry county. Briarcliffe Acres residents are wealthy with a median household income of $137,750. The poverty rate of Briarcliffe Acres is 8.6%.

The median home value in Briarcliffe Acres is $659,700. Most of the homes in Briarcliffe Acres are primarily owner-occupied with only 6.5% rentals and 93.5% owner-occupied.

Briarcliffe Acres is a small residential community with a population of only 479. Its affluent residents are well educated with 59.9% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Almost half of the residents at Briarcliffe Acres are senior citizens over 65 years old (41%). The average commute to work for Briarcliffe Acres’s residents is 23.6 minutes.

4. Isle of Palms, SC

Isle of Palms is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Isles of Palms is an affluent beach town in South Carolina where residents enjoy a resort lifestyle while still within minutes of downtown Charleston. It is located in South Carolina’s Charleston county. Isle of Palms residents are wealthy with a median household income of $134,917. The poverty rate of Isle of Palms is low at 2.5%.

Home values in Isle of Palms are high with a median home value of $883,200. Most of the homes in Isle of Palms are primarily owner-occupied with 12.4% rentals and 87.6% owner-occupied.

Isle of Palms has a population of 4,347. Its affluent residents are well educated with 74.2% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average commute to work for Isle of Palms’s residents is 27.9 minutes.

5. Tega Cay, SC

Tega Cay is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Tega Cay is an affluent residential community located in South Carolina’s York county. Tega Cay residents enjoy lakeside living and the conveniences of being just a few minutes away from downtown Charlotte. South Carolina residents are well-to-do with a median household income of $130,571. The poverty rate of Tega Cay is very low at 0.5%.

The median home value in Tega Cay is $394,500. Most of the homes in Tega Cay are primarily owner-occupied with only 15.2% rentals and 84.8% owner-occupied.

Tega Cay has a population of 12,832. Its affluent residents are well educated with 65.9% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Lots of families with children live in Tega Cay with 27% of Tega Cay residents under 18 years old. The average commute to work for Tega Cay residents is 31.2 minutes.

6. Fort Mill, SC

Fort Mill is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Fort Mill is a suburb of Charlotte, SC with top-rated schools, a vibrant main street, and beautiful parks. It is located in South Carolina’s York county. Fort Mill town, South Carolina residents are affluent with a median household income of $120,665. The poverty rate of Fort Mill is low at 3.6%.

The median home value in Fort Mill is $340,500. Most of the homes in Fort Mill are primarily owner-occupied with only 14.8% rentals and 85.2% owner-occupied.

Fort Mill has a population of 24,521. Its affluent residents are well educated with 54.8% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Lots of families with children live in Fort Mill with 31% of Fort Mill residents under 18 years old. The average commute to work for Fort Mill residents is 26.9 minutes.

7. Seabrook Island, SC

Seabrook Island is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Seabrook Island is an affluent beach town in South Carolina where residents live a resort lifestyle while still within 30 minutes of downtown Charleston. It is located in South Carolina’s Charleston county. Seabrook Island residents are well-off with a median household income of $106,875. The poverty rate of Seabrook Island is only 6.5%.

The median home value on Seabrook Island is $660,900. Most of the homes on Seabrook Island are primarily owner-occupied with only 6.3% rentals and 93.7% owner-occupied.

Seabrook Island has a population of 2,050. Its affluent residents are well educated with 80% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Most of the residents at Seabrook Island are senior citizens aged 65 years old and older (59%). The average commute to work for Seabrook Island’s residents is 26.8 minutes.

8. Mount Pleasant, SC

Mount Pleasant is one of the wealthiest towns in South Carolina. Mount Pleasant is an affluent suburb of Charleston with a charming downtown, waterfront lifestyle, a vibrant food scene and is within minutes of downtown Charleston (in fact you can walk or bike the 2.5-mile pedestrian bridge to Charleston!) It is located in South Carolina’s Charleston county. Mount Pleasant town, South Carolina residents are well-to-do with a median household income of $106,216. The poverty rate in Mount Pleasant is 5.6%.

The median home value in Mount Pleasant is $499,600. Most of the homes in Mount Pleasant are primarily owner-occupied with only 27.7% rentals and 72.3% owner-occupied.

Mount Pleasant has a population of 90,801. Its affluent residents are well educated with 65.3% of residents graduating with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Lots of families with children live in Mount Pleasant with 23% of Mount Pleasant residents under 18 years old. The average commute to work for Mount Pleasant residents is 24.6 minutes.

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The 18th hole at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.

As part of GOLF’s course rating process for 2022-23, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in South Carolina. Browse the links below to check out all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in South Carolina.

GOLF’s other course rankings: Top 100 Courses in the World | Top 100 Courses in the U.S. | Top 100 Courses You Can Play | Top 100 Value Courses in the U.S. | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 Best Short Courses in the World

SYMBOL GUIDE1 = Top 100 Course in the U.S.P = Public/Resort CourseV = Top 100 Value Course in the U.S.M = Top 30 Municipal Course in the U.S.

Ed. note: Some courses were omitted from our rankings because they did not receive enough votes.

1. Kiawah Island – Ocean Course (Kiawah Island) [1, P]

The blend of tidal marshes, scrub-topped dunes, live oaks and the soothing sound of the Atlantic on every hole make this one of the South’s most memorable playing experiences. Though the course just turned 30 years old, it already has an illustrious history of hosting big-time events, none more memorable than the drama-filled 1991 “War by the Shore” Ryder Cup. Much more short grass has been added around the green complexes since then and now the design is more thought-provoking rather than terror-inducing. Many of its greens are plateaued, with some of the more pronounced coming on the 3rd, 11th and 14th holes. Phil Mickelson more than handled the putting surfaces on his way to his historic win at the 2021 PGA Championship.

2. Yeamans Hall (Hanahan) [1]

Marrying classic Seth Raynor design with coastal South Carolina topography, Yeamans presents a charming tour of Redan, Biarritz and Road holes woven through marshland and magnificent live oaks. Over the years, the course’s original wonder faded as bunkers grew in and green complexes shrank. But a two decade-long renovation based on Raynor’s original property maps — discovered in the clubhouse attic — has returned this Golden Age masterpiece to its original brilliance.

3. Harbour Town (Hilton Head Island) [1, P]

The professionals weren’t sure what to make of Harbour Town when they first tangled with it in 1969. Unlike other courses built in that timeframe, this design by Nicklaus and Dye didn’t rely on length as much as it did in demanding accuracy off the tee as the golfer shaped shots around live oaks and stately pines. Precise iron play on the uniquely configured greens was also a must. But soon pros found standout holes abound, including the V-shaped green at the short 9th and the finishing stretch from 13 in. Pete and Alice Dye’s trip to Scotland in the mid-1960s proved the genesis for bulwarking the 13th green with railroad ties. Even 50+ years after the course opened, Harbour Town’s exemplar holes remain as compelling and interesting as anything modern architecture has to offer.

4. Congaree (Ridgeland) [1]

The number of par-4s on a course generally outnumber its par-5s and par-3s, and as such, go a long way in defining a course’s quality. The better the range of such holes, the better the course. From two of Fazio’s all-time finest short two-shotters (the 3rd and 15th) to some of his best long ones (the 6th, 11th and 17th) this design excels. Layer on the club’s desire for the fastest, firmest playing surfaces possible and the course flourishes.

5. Palmetto GC (Aiken) [1]

One of the great starts to the game with a series of diverse two-shotters leading the golfer well away from the Stanford White clubhouse. Each green is so good, and no surprise why: Alister MacKenzie lent a hand to them when he was working in neighboring Augusta. Picking favorite holes is difficult in the wake of Gil Hanse’s excellent restoration. Two of the best, though, are the one-shot 7th, with its shelf green reminding many of the 6th at Royal Dornoch, and the par-5 14th, which falls downhill in the most appealing manner imaginable. The finish is fascinating, too, with a couple of short par-4s in the final four. That works at Prestwick in Scotland, and it works here too.

6. Long Cove (Hilton Head Island)

7. Chechessee Creek (Okatie)

8. Secession (Beaufort)

9. CC of Charleston (Charleston)

10. Sage Valley (Graniteville)

11. May River – Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton)

12. The Dunes (Myrtle Beach) [P]

13. Kiawah Island – River (Kiawah Island)

14. Bulls Bay (Awendaw)

15. Caledonia (Pawleys Island) [P]

16. Kiawah Island – Cassique (Kiawah Island)

17. Greenville – Chanticleer (Greenville)

18. Camden (Camden)

19. Old Tabby Links (Okatie)

20. Musgrove Mill (Clinton)

For GOLF’s course rankings lists, each panelist is provided a list of hundreds of courses and “buckets,” or groupings. If they believe the course to be among the best in its category (World, U.S. Value, etc.), they check the corresponding box to place it in a specific bucket. Panelists are also free to write in courses they felt should have been included on the ballot. Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its aggregate score by the number of votes. From those point tallies, the courses are then ranked accordingly.

The key to the process is the experience and expertise of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all the worldwide golf meccas, each of our 115 handpicked panelists has a keen eye for architecture, both regionally and globally. Many of our panelists have played more than 1,000 courses in 20-plus countries.

Because we don’t prescribe a set method to assess courses as other ranks do, no one opinion carries the day — our rank is a democracy. Some panelists believe that enjoyment is the ultimate goal, and thus prioritize design attributes such as width and playing angles, while frowning on upon having to constantly hunt for balls in thick rough. Other panelists value challenge and the demands of hitting every club in the bag. Still others consider a course’s surroundings and overall environment of paramount importance, thereby emphasizing the setting and naturalness of the course. In the end, allowing raters to freely express their tastes is what produces the desired eclecticism in our Top 100 lists.

Panelist integrity is vital. Voters with any ties or associations to eligible courses must flag such conflicts. Panelists also know not to let the quality of their play influence their ballot — same for a luxe experience or clubhouse. While opulence may make for a more a memorable outing, it’s not what GOLF’s course lists are about. Our focus is on design and architecture. We study the course, not the trappings around it.

Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from 8AM Golf affiliate GolfLogix.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - While most Lowcountry counties woke up to a wind chill advisory for the second morning in a row on Christmas Day, a big warmup is on the way.

The National Weather Service issued the advisory Saturday night for Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton and Beaufort Counties until 10 a.m. with expected wind chill values as low as zero far inland and as low as 8 to 14 degrees along the coast.

But winds weren’t as strong on Sunday morning as they had been on Saturday, and wind chill values across the Lowcountry ranged from 21 in Moncks Corner, Kingstree and McClellanville to 15 on Johns Island and Kiawah Island.

A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frostbite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. Use caution while traveling outside. Wear appropriate clothing, a hat and gloves.

Locations across the Lowcountry were within a few degrees of all-time record lows on Christmas Eve morning after an unusually strong Arctic cold front moved in Friday.

If you are ready for a warmup, however, there is good news in the forecast. Live 5 Meteorologist Chris Holtzman said temperatures will begin rising on Christmas Day to a high around 40. That will start a warming trend over the course of the week that will bring highs into the 70s by next weekend, he said.

Live 5 Chief Meteorologist Bill Walsh said Saturday’s record low at the Charleston International Airport stands at 16 degrees while the record downtown stands at 20. The Lowcountry woke up on Christmas Eve morning to temperatures just above those figures, but not by much.

Temperatures around the area as of 6 a.m. Saturday ranged from 20 degrees in McClellanville and Kiawah Island down to 17 in Kingstree and 16 in Orangeburg.

The wind chill, or “feels like” temperature, however, dropped those figures to single digits for many areas. Summerville and Georgetown reported a wind chill of 7, while Goose Creek, Johns Island and Kiawah Island listed a 6-degree wind chill. North Charleston’s stood at 5 and in Walterboro and Orangeburg, it felt like just 3 degrees outside.

The drastic drop in temperatures from Friday morning’s high of the low 50s followed the combination of an Arctic cold front which chilled most of the nation and gusty winds driving the single-digit wind chills.

Experts advised those traveling by car this weekend to keep their phones charged, pack extra clothes and blankets and bring extra food in case they become stranded.

They also urged people to bring pets inside and provide adequate shelter for livestock, and to protect outside faucets and pipes before the cold temperatures arrive.

The National Weather Service said people should avoid outside activities if possible, but that those who must go outside should dress warmly in coats, gloves and hats.

In the Lowcountry, Walsh said the winds will begin to calm down on Christmas Eve with sunny skies and highs only in the upper 30s, about 25 degrees below average for late December.

Low temperatures will be in the 20s again Saturday night.

Sovine said Sunday will be the coldest Christmas morning since 1989, the year Hurricane Hugo devastated the Charleston area. It will also likely be the third-coldest Christmas in 85 years, he said.

Christmas Day should be dry and sunny but the high temperature will only reach the low to mid-40s.

The team declared Friday and Saturday “First Alert Weather Days” this past Sunday to alert people to the big drop in temperatures.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

By Terri Burke for The Island Connection

The Kiawah Women’s Foundation’s annual fundraiser will begin on Jan. 30. Local businessman Mike Gorski is handing off his fundraising role to KWF, with the hope that loyal Gorski Challenge donors will continue to support KWF’s Backpack Buddies Challenge. KWF works with three local schools – Angel Oak Elementary and Haut Gap Middle School on Johns Island and Frierson Elementary on Wadmalaw Island. These schools provide weekday breakfast and lunch to children who experience food insecurity. By packing and delivering over 300 bags containing 12 healthy snacks, our Backpack Buddies program extends this support through the weekend. KWF also supports local students through the Teen Holiday Project, Teen Hygiene Project, sponsorship of St. John’s High School Women’s Softball Team, and the Emergency Assistance Program. All these programs are supported by our wonderful volunteers and the generosity of the Kiawah community. Hunger lives 5 miles away. Rising food costs are one of the many strains on the struggling families KWF serves. On average each bag costs $6.50; sponsoring a child for the school year costs $260. Please consider contributing, any amount helps support our program. Donations can be made on the KWF website at Kiawahwomensfoundation.org or by check payable to Kiawah Women’s Foundation, 130 Gardeners Circle, PMB I, Johns Island, SC 29455. All donations are tax deductible.

Terri Burke is a secretary for Kiawah Women’s Foundation, a 100% volunteer nonprofit.

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The weather might not be the best for golf in South Carolina right now, but it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead.

Warmer days will be here before you know it, providing ample opportunities to step out onto the green, maybe try out those new clubs you got for Christmas and, hopefully, avoid sand traps.

But if you want to enjoy several rounds of golf in South Carolina this year, why not play on the best courses the state has to offer?

Golf Magazine ranks golf courses across the U.S. every year using a large team of expert panelists. The magazine recently unveiled its 20 best South Carolina golf courses for 2023.

According to Golf Magazine, to determine the ranking, each panelist is given a list of hundreds of courses and groupings and check off which ones they believe to be the best. They are also free to write in courses.

The panelists themselves are all handpicked and hail from 15 nations and all the golf meccas around the world. Many of the panelists have played more than 1,000 courses in 20-plus countries, the magazine’s website states.

Here are descriptions of the top five South Carolina golf courses for 2023.

Located on the eastern-most end the Kiawah Island, the Ocean Course has the most seaside hills in the Northern Hemisphere. The course was designed to give players an unobstructed view of the coastline from every hole. The course can also be particularly challenging, due to strong winds from the Atlantic.

The Yeamans Hall Club golf course was designed in 1925 in Charleston. The course offers a “charming tour of Redan, Biarritz and Road holes woven through marshland and magnificent live oaks,” Golf Magazine states. A two decade-long renovation has restored the course to its original glory.

This perennial favorite among PGA Tour players is located on Hilton Head Island. The course has undergone recent enhancements, such as new Celebration Bermuda grass for the fairways and a new irrigation system. Since 1969, it has been home to the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

Found in Ridgeland, the 18-hole Congaree golf course opened in 2018. The course was built on a historic, 18th-century estate and is surrounded by more than 2,000 acres of forest and lakes.

Founded in 1892, the Palmetto Golf Club is the oldest, continually operated 18-hole golf course in its original location in the Southeast, the golf club’s website states. The course has seen its fair share prominent players and famously people over the years, from Masters Champions Byron Nelson and Ben Crenshaw, to Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and William Taft.

Here is a list of the rest of the 20 best South Carolina golf courses for 2023.

This story was originally published January 5, 2023 8:00 AM.