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

Hampton Rental Market Overview

Hampton's population fell from 2,808 at the 2010 census to 2,694 in 2020, a decline of 4.1%, and the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate puts the town at roughly 2,636 residents -- consistent with the decline continuing rather than leveling off -- against a median household income of about $43,472 across an estimated 1,444 housing units, per CensusReporter's tabulation of that same ACS release. Against that population base, this guide identified two rental communities with an address inside Hampton as of September 2026: Hampton Gardens and Holly Ridge Apartments, both on West Holly Street. A private housing-search directory describes both as subsidized rentals rather than open-market apartments, with Holly Ridge additionally accepting Section 8 vouchers and listing accessible units; neither community's own website or a named management company could be located to independently confirm a rent figure, unit count, or eligibility terms, so both descriptions rest on the directory alone. Checking both addresses -- plus Hampton Town Hall and the Hampton County Administration building -- against the Census Bureau's public geocoder found no jurisdiction surprises: all four resolve cleanly to the incorporated Town of Hampton.

Common Lease Terms in Hampton

No community in Hampton publishes a full lease, application, or open-market fee schedule, so what's known has to be pieced together from a single third-party housing directory rather than from either property's own primary source:

• Hampton Gardens, at 911 Holly St W per the directory listing, is described as a subsidized-rent property with no independently confirmed unit count, building age, or floor plan mix -- no management company or property website could be located to verify any of those details
• Holly Ridge Apartments, at 801 Holly St W per the same directory, is described as subsidized, voucher-accepting, and offering accessible units, with a "short wait" status noted at the time of this guide's research -- again with no independently confirmable management company or unit count
• The same directory references roughly 74 income-based apartment units somewhere in Hampton in total, a figure well above the combined unit count implied by two small communities, and this guide could not identify what other properties, if any, make up that total
• South Carolina Regional Housing Authority No. 3 is named by the directory as administering Section 8 and public housing programs for the area, though this guide could not independently confirm that reference against the authority's own materials

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Hampton 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 Hampton, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property
• The Town of Hampton's own website, reviewed September 2026, publishes a business-license requirement covering any business operating within town limits and references a 2010 Zoning Ordinance, but nothing specific to rental-property registration or landlord licensing
• Hampton's full Code of Ordinances is hosted on Municode as a JavaScript-rendered application that returned no readable table of contents to this guide's research tools -- unlike some other South Carolina county seats checked for this project, this is disclosed as an incomplete check, not a confirmed absence of a residential rental ordinance
• Checking Hampton Town Hall, the Hampton County Administration building, and both identified rental communities against the Census Bureau's public geocoder found no jurisdiction mismatch -- all four addresses resolve cleanly to the incorporated Town of Hampton

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

Mandatory Fees at Hampton Communities

No fee schedule could be independently verified for either identified Hampton community, as of September 2026.

• Neither Hampton Gardens nor Holly Ridge Apartments has a confirmable property website or named management company, so no application fee, pet fee, or deposit amount could be sourced beyond a third-party directory's general "subsidized" and "voucher-accepting" descriptions
• Subsidized and voucher-accepting properties typically set fees and deposit amounts through the managing housing authority or agency rather than an open-market fee schedule, which is consistent with the directory's description of both Hampton communities but could not be confirmed against a primary source for either
• South Carolina law sets no statutory cap on application fees, pet fees, or administrative fees -- whatever a specific lease states is what governs

A directory-listed description isn't the same as a confirmed fee schedule -- confirming any figure directly with the specific property's management office, in writing, before applying is the only way to know the real total at either Hampton community.

County Seat, a Closed Plant, and Hampton's Local Economy

Hampton has served as the seat of Hampton County since the county's creation from part of Beaufort County in 1878, and the town itself was incorporated the following year, originally as "Hampton Courthouse" -- both named for Wade Hampton III, per Wikipedia. Agriculture and a rail depot anchored the town's early commerce, and five sites in town are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the American Legion Hut, the Bank of Hampton, the Hampton Colored School, the Hampton County Courthouse, and the Palmetto Theatre. Post-World War II industrialization brought a single large manufacturing plant that passed through several owners -- built as Plywoods-Plastics, then Westinghouse-Micarta, then International Paper, before becoming Nevamar -- and became one of the county's largest employers. That plant closed in late 2014, costing more than 220 jobs, per a South Carolina Radio Network report cited by Wikipedia. The town's own history page, current as of September 2026, still describes Nevamar in the present tense as though it continues operating, a detail this guide's research found does not match that 2014 closure reporting.

At the county level, Hampton County's population has followed a similar trajectory to the town's: 18,561 residents at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate of roughly 18,174, per Wikipedia's citation of Census Bureau data. The county's 2022 GDP was about $542.4 million, or roughly $29,930 per capita, with unemployment holding low, around 2.8-2.9% through 2022-2023. Wikipedia's list of the county's largest employers, sourced to an April 2024 South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce community profile, names the U.S. Department of Justice, Food Lion, Hampton Regional Medical Center, and Le Creuset -- though this guide could not independently re-verify that list against the primary PDF, since the state's own hosting domain (lmi.dew.sc.gov) returned a TLS certificate mismatch to this guide's research tools. The Department of Justice entry most plausibly refers to the federal prison FCI Estill, a medium-security facility with an adjacent minimum-security camp holding roughly 1,100 people combined, located near the separate town of Estill rather than in Hampton itself. Hampton Regional Medical Center likewise sits outside Hampton proper: federal Medicare facility data lists its address as 595 West Carolina Avenue, which the Census Bureau's geocoder resolves to Varnville, not Hampton, despite the hospital carrying the county and town's shared name. Le Creuset's own public materials describe its cast-iron cookware as manufactured at a foundry in France, and this guide could not independently confirm the location or nature of whatever Le Creuset facility or operation the state's employer data is counting within Hampton County.

Common Issues Renters Face in Hampton

These are the most frequent considerations this guide's research turned up for renters in Hampton:

• Neither identified Hampton community publishes independently verifiable market-rate pricing, so comparing "Hampton rent" to a neighboring town's published figures isn't possible from public sources alone
• Both Hampton Gardens and Holly Ridge Apartments are known to this guide only through a single third-party housing directory, with no confirmable property website or management company for either -- worth confirming details directly with a housing authority or leasing contact before assuming any listed detail is current
• The directory's reference to roughly 74 income-based units somewhere in Hampton is larger than what two small communities would typically account for, and this guide could not identify the remaining properties that figure implies
• The county's own regional hospital, Hampton Regional Medical Center, carries a Varnville address rather than a Hampton one, and the federal prison most likely behind the county's "U.S. Department of Justice" employer listing sits near Estill -- worth knowing before assuming either institution's jobs, traffic, or housing demand land specifically on Hampton itself
• The town's own published history still describes the Nevamar plant as a current employer, though the plant's 2014 closure is separately documented -- a reminder that a local government's own page isn't automatically up to date on employment facts

Negotiating Your Lease in Hampton

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Hampton's rental market has no independently published market-rate price to benchmark against at either of its two identified communities.

• Confirming current eligibility, program type, and waitlist status directly with whichever housing authority or management contact actually administers Hampton Gardens or Holly Ridge Apartments is the only way to verify a detail this guide's research could only source from a third-party directory
• Contacting South Carolina Regional Housing Authority No. 3 directly, rather than relying on the directory's description, is a reasonable way to confirm both properties' current fee structure and any voucher requirements
• Comparing a quoted Hampton figure against Walterboro or Ridgeland, two nearby South Carolina markets with more independently published rental pricing, can help gauge whether a specific quote is reasonable for the region
• Verifying a specific unit's proximity to an actual workplace matters more than usual here, given that Hampton Regional Medical Center and the area's federal prison employment both sit outside Hampton's own town limits

A community with no independently verifiable pricing isn't automatically a red flag in a market this thin -- but it does mean every figure needs confirming directly with the leasing office or housing authority before signing anything.