Renting in Gifford? Here's What You Need to Know Before You Sign

Gifford Rental Market Overview

Gifford is a 0.94-square-mile town in northwestern Hampton County, South Carolina, on an isolated stretch of highway roughly 60 miles north of Savannah, 85 miles south of Columbia, and 85 miles west of Charleston. As of October 2026, this guide's research could not identify a single named apartment or multi-family rental community operating inside town limits, but City-Data.com's Census American Community Survey estimate does publish a town-wide median gross rent figure of roughly $664 to $689 depending on the vintage cited. The town's own profile describes about five businesses operating along its one commercial stretch, a sharp contraction from the four "thriving stores" and a regular Greyhound Bus Company stop the community supported in earlier decades.

Common Lease Terms in Gifford

With no identified apartment community or leasing office to source a specific lease from, what follows is pieced together from housing-stock data, a direct jurisdiction check, and the town's own economic profile rather than a single property's own paperwork:

• A Census-based estimate puts Gifford's median household income at roughly $29,583 and its poverty rate at roughly 17.5% -- both figures pointing to a thinner local rental market than most other small South Carolina towns this guide has researched
• South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (S.C. Code Title 27, Chapter 40) supplies the default lease terms -- notice periods, entry rules, deposit handling -- for any Gifford tenancy where the lease itself is silent
• Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, the Gifford Rosenwald School (6146 Columbia Highway) resolves cleanly inside the incorporated Town of Gifford -- a clean jurisdiction result, though two other addresses checked (Town Hall and a local church) returned no match at all, most likely a rural address-range data gap rather than evidence either sits outside town
• The town's land area (0.94 square miles) is among the smallest this guide has documented in its South Carolina coverage, consistent with a population under 260 residents as of the 2020 Census

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Gifford may have additional local ordinances that affect your lease.

• South Carolina law preempts local rent control statewide (S.C. Code §27-39-60) -- no South Carolina city or county, including Gifford, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property
• This guide could not confirm a published zoning ordinance or business-license schedule specific to Gifford from publicly available sources -- the town maintains a listing with the Municipal Association of South Carolina, but that listing does not itself publish ordinance text, and no independent source turned up a zoning map or fee schedule for the town
• Gifford's population has declined in every Census count since 2000, a steeper and more sustained drop (-30.5% cumulative) than this guide has found in several neighboring Hampton County towns -- a more recent ZIP-code-level estimate of roughly 277 exists but describes the wider 29923 area, not the incorporated town specifically
• Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, the Gifford Rosenwald School resolves cleanly inside the incorporated town, while two other checked addresses (Town Hall and a local church) returned no match at all -- a data-coverage gap this guide has also found on other sparsely populated rural South Carolina towns, not necessarily evidence those addresses sit outside town limits

For full South Carolina statewide tenant rights, see our South Carolina tenant rights guide.

Mandatory Fees at Gifford Rentals

No fee schedule could be independently confirmed for a Gifford rental, since this guide could not identify any leasing office or managed rental community operating inside town, as of October 2026.

• City-Data.com's housing profile publishes a town-wide median gross rent estimate but no property-level application fee, pet fee, or deposit amount for any specific Gifford property
• No zoning ordinance or business-license schedule for Gifford could be located online, so this guide also could not confirm whether the town imposes any rental-registration or business-license fee on a landlord operating inside town limits
• South Carolina law sets no statutory cap on application fees, pet fees, or administrative fees -- whatever a specific lease states is what governs

A town with no identified rental community isn't automatically a red flag -- but it does mean every fee, deposit amount, and lease term is worth confirming directly with the landlord, in writing, before signing anything.

A Hampton County Crossroads Town Whose Rosenwald School Outlasted Its Commerce

The U.S. Census Bureau's decennial counts show Gifford declining steadily over the past quarter-century: from 370 residents in 2000 down to 288 by 2010 (a 22.2% single-decade drop) and 257 by 2020 (a further 10.8% drop), a cumulative 30.5% decline. A more recent estimate of roughly 277 exists for the wider 29923 ZIP code area, but that figure describes a larger rural mail-delivery zone, not the incorporated town itself, and should not be read as evidence of a town-level rebound. The town occupies just 0.94 square miles in northwestern Hampton County, on an isolated stretch roughly 60 miles north of Savannah, 85 miles south of Columbia, and 85 miles west of Charleston.

Gifford grew up as a rural crossroads community. The Gifford family operated the settlement's first general store; in 1890, Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Hanna moved in from Johnsonville, South Carolina, and established a sawmill and turpentine business along with a commissary store for their workers, becoming the town's largest employer of that era. At its peak the town supported four thriving stores and a regular stop on the Greyhound Bus Company's route -- commercial activity this guide's research found no present-day equivalent for, with roughly five businesses now operating along the town's remaining commercial stretch. The town's most significant surviving landmark is the Gifford Rosenwald School (6146 Columbia Highway), built in 1920-21 with partial funding from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, a nationwide program that helped construct roughly 500 rural schools for Black students across South Carolina between 1917 and 1932. Gifford's was the first of four Rosenwald-funded schools built in Hampton County and is the only one of the four still standing today. Several historic Black churches founded in the surrounding community -- Mt. Zion Baptist, Macedonia Baptist, Long Branch Baptist, Emmanuel A.M.E., St. Peter A.M.E., and Faith Temple -- remain active.

A specific finding from this guide's own research: checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, the Rosenwald School's own address resolves cleanly inside the incorporated Town of Gifford, confirming the jurisdiction is real and not merely a mailing-address convention. Two other addresses checked -- the town's own Town Hall (236 Walker Street) and Long Branch Baptist Church (922 Hopewell Road) -- returned no match at all in the geocoder's address-range data, a result this guide has also encountered on other sparsely populated rural South Carolina towns, where TIGER/Line address ranges simply have not been built out for every rural road. That is a data-coverage gap worth being aware of, not evidence those specific addresses sit outside the town's own jurisdiction.

Common Issues Renters Face in Gifford

These are the most frequent lease-related considerations identified for Gifford, based on the research for this guide:

• No apartment or multi-family rental community could be confirmed operating inside Gifford from the sources this guide checked, so a prospective renter should not assume the town has no options at all -- only that none could be independently verified
• A more recent population estimate for the 29923 ZIP code (roughly 277) describes a wider rural mail-delivery area, not the incorporated town itself -- a renter comparing population figures for Gifford specifically should rely on the Census Bureau's decennial counts for the town (257 in 2020), not a ZIP-level estimate
• No zoning ordinance or business-license schedule specific to Gifford could be located online, so a prospective tenant or small business should confirm any claimed local rule directly with Town Hall rather than assume one exists or does not
• Gifford's population has declined in every Census count since 2000, a steeper and more sustained trend (-30.5% cumulative) than this guide has found in several neighboring Hampton County towns, alongside a below-state median household income (roughly $29,583) and a poverty rate (roughly 17.5%) worth factoring into any assessment of local rental demand

Negotiating Your Lease in Gifford

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Gifford's rental market has no identified apartment community or leasing office to benchmark a specific offer against.

• A full written lease, rather than a verbal or partial agreement, is especially worth requesting in a market like Gifford's, where the counterparty is more likely an individual property owner than a company with a standard template already in place
• Comparing a specific quote against nearby Hampton, Estill, or Varnville, all covered elsewhere on this site and all within Hampton County, can help gauge whether a Gifford rent or fee fits regional norms
• Confirming a specific address's actual jurisdiction using the Census Bureau's free public geocoder is worth doing for any Gifford-area property, particularly given that two of the three addresses this guide checked returned no match at all -- a result worth following up on rather than assuming either way

A market with no identified rental community isn't automatically a red flag -- but with no comparison listing to check a quote against, confirming every fee, deposit amount, and lease term directly with the landlord, in writing, matters more here than in a market with visible competition.