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

Landrum Rental Market Overview

Landrum, a Spartanburg County city (not the county seat -- that's the City of Spartanburg), grew from 2,376 residents at the 2010 census to 2,481 in 2020, a 4.4% increase confirmed against the U.S. Census Bureau's own decennial figures. Current-year estimates diverge by source, a pattern this guide has found in other small Spartanburg County cities: Data USA's American Community Survey-based estimate puts 2024 population at roughly 2,620, while a separate ACS-based estimate from City-Data.com puts it at roughly 2,792, a reported 12.9% increase since 2000. Despite that growth, this guide could not confirm a single apartment community carrying a Landrum address on any listing platform checked. ApartmentList's own search for "Landrum, SC" returns no listings at all; Rent.com's search for the same city instead surfaces two individually listed rentals in neighboring Inman and eight apartment communities in Spartanburg, Taylors, and Boiling Springs -- none of them actually addressed in Landrum.

Common Lease Terms in Landrum

No apartment community operating in Landrum could be independently confirmed for this guide, so a typical lease length, deposit amount, or application fee can't be stated with a verified source behind it the way this guide can for a market-rate city.

• ApartmentList's search for Landrum, SC rentals returns no listings at all, and Rent.com's search substitutes nearby Inman, Spartanburg, and Taylors properties rather than anything actually addressed in Landrum
• Given how much of Landrum's housing stock is owner-occupied -- 77.8% in 2024, per Data USA's ACS-based estimate -- a single-family or duplex rental leased directly through an individual landlord or small local property manager is a more realistic path here than a multi-unit apartment community
• That same 2024 estimate puts Landrum's renter-occupied share at roughly 22%, down from about 26% the year before -- a small and apparently shrinking rental pool, not a growing one

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights in Landrum, whether renting an apartment or a single-family home.

• South Carolina law preempts local rent control statewide (S.C. Code §27-39-60) -- no South Carolina city or county, including Landrum, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property
• The City of Landrum's own Planning page confirms a Zoning Ordinance adopted May 23, 2023, described on the same page as currently undergoing a revision process -- residents, property owners, and developers are directed to contact City Hall with zoning questions before starting a project
• A Business License Ordinance requires every business operating in the city to obtain a license, and a 2% Hospitality Tax applies to prepared meals and beverages sold in Landrum establishments -- both confirmed directly from the city's own site
• No rental-registration requirement or landlord-tenant ordinance distinct from South Carolina's statewide Residential Landlord and Tenant Act was found; the city's full "Landrum City Code" and Zoning Ordinance documents are linked from its own Planning page but render through JavaScript, so this guide could not independently search their chapter-level text for a hidden rental-specific provision

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

Mandatory Fees at Landrum Rentals

No fee disclosure could be independently verified for a Landrum-addressed rental, because no apartment community or single-family listing carrying a Landrum address could be found on the platforms checked for this guide.

• ApartmentList's own search for Landrum, SC returns zero listings, and Rent.com's search for the same city surfaces only nearby Inman, Spartanburg, and Taylors properties -- none actually addressed in Landrum
• No independently operated apartment community website carrying a Landrum, SC address was found through any channel checked for this guide
• City-Data.com's ACS-based estimate puts Landrum's 2024 median gross rent at just $518/month -- a strikingly low figure for the current South Carolina market that this guide could not confirm against any primary source, and one that likely reflects both a small ACS sample size for a city this size and a housing stock that is overwhelmingly owner-occupied rather than rental

A citywide rent estimate from a data aggregator is not the same as a confirmed price for an actual available unit -- with zero verified rental listings carrying a Landrum address, this guide has no property-level figure to check that $518/month estimate against. Confirming a specific unit's rent, deposit, and fee schedule directly with a landlord or property manager, rather than relying on any citywide estimate, is the more reliable path in a market this thin.

What's Driving Landrum's Growth

Landrum was founded in 1880 after the railroad was extended north from Spartanburg, named for John Gill Landrum, who donated the land for the depot in 1877; the settlement was incorporated as a town in 1883 and became a city in 1973, per both the city's own History page and the U.S. Census Bureau's records. The early economy ran on corn and timber, shifted to cotton in the early 1900s, and turned to peaches as the region's main cash crop around 1930; textiles followed as the area's first real industry, and the city's own site describes that base as having "diversified over the past forty years" into electronics parts and furniture hardware. Unlike many small cities that lost their traditional downtowns to strip development, Landrum's own account credits "careful and deliberate city planning" with preserving a walkable historic downtown -- antique shops, boutique furniture stores, and local cafes and restaurants along Highway 176, anchored by the restored Historic Landrum Depot, now an event venue and rail history museum. The Landrum Farmers Market, at 221 West Rutherford Street, runs each April through December.

Landrum sits just south of the North Carolina line on U.S. Route 176, between Spartanburg and Asheville, against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains foothills. The city's own site markets the area through a shared "Carolina Foothills and Tryon Equestrian Region" brand, and its History page separately names F.E.N.C.E. (Foothills Equestrian and Nature Center) as a source of local equestrian and hiking trails -- but F.E.N.C.E.'s own site puts its address at 3381 Hunting Country Road, Tryon, NC 28782, which the Census Bureau's geocoder resolves to no incorporated place at all, meaning unincorporated Polk County, North Carolina land, not South Carolina and not Landrum. The Tryon International Equestrian Center, the larger venue the regional brand is built around, carries the same pattern: its own site lists 25 International Boulevard, Mill Spring, NC 28756, which also resolves to no incorporated place. Even Landrum's Foothills Quilt Trail, launched in 2012 by the city, the Landrum Quilters, and the Polk County (NC) Community Foundation, reflects the same cross-border regional identity on a smaller scale. Data USA's 2024 estimate lists Manufacturing (240 workers), Retail Trade (180), and Health Care & Social Assistance (144) as Landrum's three largest employment categories among roughly 1,080 employed residents -- consistent with the city's own account of a mill-and-agriculture economy that diversified over time, even as its most heavily marketed regional identity points, address by address, across a state line.

Common Issues Renters Face in Landrum

These are the most frequent lease-related considerations this guide's research turned up for Landrum:

• No apartment community carrying a Landrum address was found on any platform checked for this guide -- expect to coordinate with an individual landlord or small local property manager rather than an on-site leasing office
• An "equestrian region" identity attached to Landrum doesn't mean the named amenities sit inside city limits, or even in South Carolina -- confirming a specific address against a map or the Census Bureau's free geocoder is worth doing before assuming what's actually nearby
• The city's Zoning Ordinance was adopted May 23, 2023 and was, per the city's own Planning page, undergoing a revision process at the time of this guide's research -- a renter with a zoning-adjacent question, such as short-term rental use or a home occupation, should confirm current status directly with City Hall
• The full "Landrum City Code" and Zoning Ordinance documents are linked from the city's own site but render through JavaScript, so this guide could not independently search their chapter-level text for a rental-specific provision beyond what's confirmed above

Negotiating Your Lease in Landrum

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Landrum's near-total lack of a verified apartment market makes direct negotiation with an individual landlord or property manager more relevant here than in a market with established, verifiable communities.

• Requesting the current rent, deposit, and fee schedule directly, rather than relying on a citywide estimate, is the only way to get numbers specific to whatever property is actually being considered in Landrum
• With roughly 22% of Landrum households renting as of 2024 against a much larger owner-occupied share, comparable rental data points are thinner here than in a bigger rental market -- asking a prospective landlord for comparable recent rentals they've signed, not just the one unit on offer, is worth doing
• Confirming whether a specific address sits inside Landrum city limits, unincorporated Spartanburg County, or across the state line in North Carolina is worth doing before assuming which government's zoning, licensing, or ordinances would apply to a given property