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

Livingston Rental Market Overview

Livingston is a small town in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, barely a mile from Neeses and roughly 34 miles southwest of Columbia. As of October 2026, this guide's research could not identify a single named apartment or multi-family rental community operating inside the town's own 0.79-square-mile limits, but City-Data.com's 2024 Census American Community Survey estimate does publish a town-wide median gross rent figure of $695. Unlike several sibling Orangeburg County towns this guide has covered, Livingston's income and poverty figures do not trail South Carolina's statewide numbers by a wide margin -- a modestly less economically depressed profile than most comparably sized towns in this coverage.

Common Lease Terms in Livingston

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 limited public record available for a town this size rather than a single property's own paperwork:

• City-Data.com's 2024 ACS-based estimate puts Livingston's median household income at $70,785 against a 7.9% poverty rate -- both close to South Carolina's statewide median household income of $72,350, a notably less depressed profile than most comparably sized Orangeburg County towns this guide has documented
• 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 Livingston tenancy where the lease itself is silent
• Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, Livingston's own geographic center resolves cleanly inside the incorporated Town of Livingston (see the jurisdiction section below)
• City-Data.com's 2024 estimate puts the town's median house value at $93,264 and the median resident age at 31.0 years -- a full decade younger than South Carolina's statewide median age of 40.7, an unusual profile for a town that has otherwise seen a slow, decades-long population decline

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Livingston 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 Livingston, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property
• Orangeburg County's own Business License ordinance, per the county's published terms, applies only "within the unincorporated limits of the County of Orangeburg" -- explicitly excluding incorporated towns like Livingston, the same pattern this guide's research found on nearby Springfield and Cordova -- while whether Livingston has adopted its own separate town-level ordinance could not be confirmed either way
• Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, Livingston's own geographic center resolves cleanly to the incorporated town, but the nearest identifiable landmark, Bethel School roughly three-quarters of a mile away, returns no incorporated-place match at all, sitting instead on unincorporated Orangeburg County land
• Livingston shares ZIP code 29107 with neighboring Neeses, barely a mile away -- the exact ZIP code this guide's own Neeses page found behind a business directory's mix-up of the two towns' identities, a reminder that a shared postal code can misroute more than mail

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

Mandatory Fees at Livingston Rentals

No fee schedule could be independently confirmed for a Livingston 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 ($695) but no property-level application fee, pet fee, or deposit amount for any specific Livingston property
• Whether Livingston has its own zoning or business-license ordinance reaching a residential-rental registration rule could not be confirmed either way -- the town is explicitly excluded from Orangeburg County's own business-license program by the county's published terms, and no town-specific ordinance could be found published online
• 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 Slower Decline Than Its Neighbors -- a Shared ZIP Code With Neeses, and a Landmark Just Outside Town Limits

Livingston sits in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, barely a mile from Neeses and roughly 34 miles southwest of Columbia. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 148 residents in 2000, 136 in 2010, and 132 in 2020 -- an 8.1% drop in the first decade followed by a much smaller 2.9% drop in the second. City-Data.com's 2024 current-year estimate puts the town at 128, a cumulative loss of roughly 13.5% since 2000, a slower pace of decline than several sibling small towns this guide has covered, where cumulative losses of 20% or more since 2000 are common. The town covers just 0.79 square miles and is governed under a mayor-council structure, per South Carolina's own list of incorporated municipalities.

Beyond its small size, this guide's research found an unusually thin public record for a confirmed, actively incorporated town: no Town Hall street address, mayor's name, or working municipal website could be identified anywhere online, a gap similar to several of the smallest towns in this coverage. What the record does show is a demographic profile that runs somewhat against the area's usual pattern: City-Data.com's 2024 ACS-based estimate puts median household income at $70,785 and the poverty rate at 7.9%, both close to or better than South Carolina's statewide figures, and a median resident age of 31.0 years, a full decade younger than the state's 40.7 median -- an unusual combination for a town that has still lost population in every Census count since 2000. The 2024 estimate lists retail trade (26.5%), construction (19.8%), and public administration (9.9%) as the town's leading employment sectors.

A jurisdiction check against the Census Bureau's public geocoder found a genuine, if modest, mismatch. Livingston's own geographic center resolves cleanly inside the incorporated "Livingston town" boundary (GEOID 4542100), but the nearest identifiable landmark near town, Bethel School roughly three-quarters of a mile to the north, returns no incorporated-place match at all -- it sits on unincorporated Orangeburg County land, outside Livingston's own limits. More striking is a finding tied directly to this guide's prior work: Livingston shares ZIP code 29107 with Neeses, a separate incorporated town barely a mile away, and that exact ZIP code is what this guide's own Neeses page found behind a business directory (Yelp) misfiling Neeses' own Town Hall address under "Livingston, SC." The two towns' shared postal routing is the most plausible mechanical explanation for that mix-up, and it cuts both ways -- an address carrying either town's name in this ZIP is worth confirming against the Census geocoder rather than taken at face value. Separately, Orangeburg County's own Business License ordinance states it applies only "within the unincorporated limits of the County of Orangeburg," explicitly excluding incorporated towns like Livingston from the county's program -- the same finding this guide's research made on nearby Springfield and Cordova -- leaving open whether Livingston has adopted any ordinance of its own.

Common Issues Renters Face in Livingston

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

• No apartment or multi-family rental community could be confirmed operating inside Livingston 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
• Whether Livingston has a town-level zoning or business-license ordinance reaching residential rentals could not be confirmed either way, and the town is explicitly excluded from Orangeburg County's own business-license program by the county's published terms -- a renter running a home-based business should not assume county rules apply
• Livingston shares a ZIP code with neighboring Neeses, and this guide's own research found a business directory had already misfiled an address from one town under the other's name -- a reminder that a shared ZIP code is not the same as a confirmed town boundary, in either direction
• Livingston's own Town Hall address, mayor's name, and municipal website could not be located anywhere online by this guide's research -- a prospective tenant or small business with a question about local rules has no obvious public point of contact to start from

Negotiating Your Lease in Livingston

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Livingston'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 Livingston'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 Neeses, Springfield, or Orangeburg, all covered elsewhere on this site and all within a short drive, can help gauge whether a Livingston rent or fee fits regional norms
• Confirming a specific address's actual jurisdiction using the Census Bureau's free public geocoder is especially worth doing in Livingston, given its shared ZIP code with Neeses and this guide's own prior finding of a directory mix-up between the two towns

A market with no identified rental community isn't automatically a red flag -- but with no comparison listing to check a quote against, and a shared ZIP code that has already caused one documented directory error, confirming every fee, deposit amount, lease term, and address jurisdiction directly matters more here than in a typical small-town market.