What is the average rent in Scotia, SC?

No reliable median gross rent figure could be identified for Scotia from the sources checked for this guide. City-Data.com's published 2024 American Community Survey estimate for the town renders its median household income and median house value as corrupted, impossible negative-billion-dollar figures -- an obvious data error rather than a real statistic -- and its rent figure for the town could not be clearly extracted either. A separate aggregator, DataUSA, reports a median household income of $25,500 (2020 estimate) but does not publish a rent figure at all. As of October 2026, this guide could not identify a single named apartment community, rental property, or even a general business operating inside Scotia, so any rent here is almost certainly set between an individual landlord and tenant rather than published anywhere.

Has Scotia, SC's population been growing or shrinking?

Shrinking for most of the past century, though the sharpest decline may have leveled off. Scotia peaked at 324 residents in 1930. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 227 residents in 2000, 215 in 2010, and 158 in 2020 -- a 26.5% drop in that final decade alone. More recent estimates disagree on what's happened since: City-Data.com's 2024 current-year estimate puts the town at 159, essentially flat against the 2020 count, while a separate ACS-based estimator, DataUSA, puts 2024 population at just 97 -- a further 39% drop that the other source doesn't show at all. This guide could not reconcile the two figures and reports both rather than picking one.

Does a "Scotia, SC" address reliably fall within the town's own incorporated limits?

Likely, based on the one check this guide could perform, though with an unusual limitation: no specific street address for a business, church, or Town Hall could be identified anywhere in Scotia from the sources checked, which is itself a notable finding distinct from the usual mailing-address-vs-jurisdiction mismatch found elsewhere in this coverage. Checked against the U.S. Census Bureau's public geocoder, the town's own geographic center -- near where U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) runs through town -- resolves cleanly inside the incorporated "Scotia town" boundary. That confirms the town exists as a real, mapped incorporated place, but without a specific address to test, a prospective tenant or business should still confirm any particular parcel's jurisdiction directly with Hampton County before assuming where a line falls.

What is Scotia, SC known for?

Not much that could be confirmed by this guide's research. Scotia sits on U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) in southwestern Hampton County, roughly 17 miles southwest of the county seat of Hampton, between the small communities of Estill and Garnett. This guide could not identify a single named historic landmark, festival, business, or notable former resident associated with the town, nor could it find a Wikipedia history section, an active town government website, or a mayor's name -- an unusually thin public record even by the standard of the smallest towns covered in this series. Hampton County's own government website makes no mention of Scotia at all. What the town does show, per the 2020 Census, is a population that is 66.5% Black and 31.7% White, and a 2024 American Community Survey estimate putting the median resident age at 52.6 -- well above South Carolina's statewide median of 40.7.

Does Scotia have a zoning ordinance or business-license requirement?

Not confirmed either way by this guide's research, and more uncertain than most towns in this coverage because no town government website, mayor, or clerk contact could be identified at all. South Carolina's enabling statutes (S.C. Code §6-29-310 for zoning, §5-7-30 for business licenses) let any incorporated municipality adopt either, and incorporation itself confirms Scotia is a real municipal government, but this guide found no published ordinance, municipal code, or contact information confirming what -- if anything -- Scotia has adopted. A prospective tenant or small business should contact Hampton County directly (200 Jackson Avenue East, Hampton, SC 29924) to ask how to reach Scotia's own town government, rather than assume either way.

Does South Carolina or Scotia have rent control?

No. South Carolina law preempts local rent control statewide (S.C. Code §27-39-60): no city or county, including Scotia, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property. South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets the baseline tenant protections that apply in Scotia instead.

Renting in Scotia, SC: Lease Guide & Tenant Rights

Scotia Rental Market Overview

Scotia is a 3.17-square-mile town in southwestern Hampton County, South Carolina, on U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) roughly 17 miles southwest of the county seat of Hampton, between the small communities of Estill and Garnett. As of October 2026, this guide's research could not identify a single named apartment community, rental property, or even a general business operating inside town limits -- a thinner commercial profile than most towns covered in this series, several of which at least had a Dollar General or similar national retailer to check. City-Data.com's 2024 American Community Survey estimate for the town renders its median household income and median house value as corrupted, impossible negative-billion-dollar figures, and does not clearly state a rent figure either; a separate ACS-based aggregator, DataUSA, publishes a median household income of $25,500 (2020 estimate) but no rent figure of its own. No reliable median gross rent could be identified for Scotia from any source checked.

Not Identified

Median Gross Rent (No Reliable Source Found)

-26.5%

Population Change, 2010 Census to 2020 Census (215 → 158)

Landlord-Favored

Market Type (SC Statutory Baseline)

Common Lease Terms in Scotia

With no identified rental property, business, or even a town government contact to source lease terms from, what follows is pieced together from Census-level housing data, a jurisdiction check, and the town's broader county context rather than any single property's own paperwork:

DataUSA's 2020 estimate puts Scotia's median household income at $25,500, against a 2024 poverty rate of 19.6% -- both well below South Carolina's statewide median household income of $72,350
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 Scotia tenancy where the lease itself is silent
Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, the town's own geographic center resolves cleanly inside the incorporated Town of Scotia, though no specific street address inside town could be identified to test individually
City-Data.com's 2024 estimate puts the town's median resident age at 52.6 years, well above South Carolina's statewide median age of 40.7, and the 2020 Census shows a population that is 66.5% Black and 31.7% White

Local Tenant Protections

South Carolina law provides the baseline for tenant rights, but Scotia 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 Scotia, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property
No zoning ordinance, business-license ordinance, mayor's name, or even a working town government website could be identified for Scotia anywhere online -- a thinner public record than nearly every other town in this coverage, several of which at least had an MASC.sc listing or a published ordinance to check
Checked against the Census Bureau's public geocoder, the town's own geographic center resolves cleanly inside the incorporated "Scotia town" boundary, confirming it is a real, mapped municipality, though no specific address inside town could be identified to test individually
Scotia's population has declined sharply since a 1930 peak of 324, though recent estimates disagree sharply on the current trajectory: City-Data's 2024 estimate (159) is essentially flat against the 2020 Census count (158), while DataUSA's separate 2024 estimate (97) shows a further 39% drop that the other source doesn't corroborate

South Carolina statewide baseline

Security deposit cap: No cap
Deposit return: 30 days
Landlord entry notice: 24 hours
Rent regulation: None statewide

Statutory basis: S.C. Code §27-40-410/-530. Figures verified June 2026 against the primary statute. Statutes change — a lawyer in South Carolina can confirm what applies to a specific tenancy.

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

Mandatory Fees at Scotia Rentals

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

No aggregator or Census source publishes a property-level application fee, pet fee, or deposit amount for Scotia specifically -- City-Data's own figures for the town are corrupted and unusable, as noted above
Whether Scotia has its own zoning or business-license ordinance reaching a residential-rental registration rule could not be confirmed either way -- no town-specific ordinance, website, or government contact 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 Hampton County Town So Small Its Own County Government Doesn't Mention It

The U.S. Census Bureau's decennial counts show Scotia declining for most of the past century: from a peak of 324 residents in 1930 down to 227 by 2000, 215 by 2010, and 158 by 2020 -- a 26.5% drop in that final decade alone. What's happened since is genuinely unclear: City-Data.com's 2024 current-year estimate puts the town at 159, essentially unchanged from the 2020 count, while a separate ACS-based estimator, DataUSA, puts 2024 population at just 97 -- a further 39% decline the other source doesn't show at all. This guide could not reconcile the two figures and reports both rather than treat either as settled.

The town sits on U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) in southwestern Hampton County, roughly 17 miles southwest of the county seat of Hampton, between the small communities of Estill and Garnett. Hampton County's own government website makes no mention of Scotia anywhere, and this guide's research could not locate a town government website, a mayor's name, a municipal code, or a single named business, church, or historic landmark associated with Scotia -- an unusually thin public record even measured against the smallest towns covered elsewhere in this series. City-Data's 2024 employment-sector estimate for the town shows health care and social assistance (24.1%), transportation and warehousing (18.5%), public administration (18.5%), and educational services (16.7%) as its leading sectors, against a median household income (DataUSA, 2020) of $25,500 and a 19.6% poverty rate -- both well below South Carolina's statewide figures. The same City-Data estimate reports an unusually skewed gender split (roughly 24% male, 76% female) for 2024, which this guide treats as likely small-sample noise for a town of this size rather than a confirmed demographic fact.

A jurisdiction check against the Census Bureau's public geocoder confirms Scotia is a real, mapped incorporated place: the town's own geographic center, near where Columbia Highway runs through it, resolves cleanly inside the incorporated "Scotia town" boundary. That is a genuinely clean result, but it comes with a caveat none of this guide's other South Carolina pages have needed to state so plainly -- without a single confirmed street address inside town (no Town Hall, no business, no church), there was nothing more specific to test. A prospective tenant or small business with a jurisdiction question should contact Hampton County directly (200 Jackson Avenue East, Hampton, SC 29924) rather than expect to find Scotia's own office through a general search.

Common Issues Renters Face in Scotia

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

No rental property, business, or leasing office of any kind could be confirmed operating inside Scotia from the sources this guide checked -- a renter should not assume the town has no housing at all, only that nothing could be independently verified
Scotia's own town government could not be located online at all -- no website, mayor's name, or municipal code -- so a renter or small business with a zoning or licensing question should start with Hampton County (200 Jackson Avenue East, Hampton, SC 29924) rather than expect to find Scotia's own office through a general search
Recent population estimates for the town conflict sharply (City-Data's 159 vs. DataUSA's 97 for 2024) -- a renter should treat either figure as a rough estimate, not a precise count
The town's population has declined for most of the past century from a 1930 peak of 324, and even the more optimistic of the two 2024 estimates shows no clear rebound

Negotiating Your Lease in Scotia

South Carolina is landlord-favorable with minimal statutory protections, and Scotia's rental market has no identified property, leasing office, or even a confirmed business 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 Scotia's, where the counterparty is almost certainly an individual property owner rather than any kind of management company
Comparing a specific quote against nearby Estill, Hampton, or Varnville, all covered elsewhere on this site and all within Hampton County or a short drive, can help gauge whether a Scotia 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 Scotia-area property -- this guide's own check found a clean result for the town's geographic center, but no specific address inside town could be identified to test the way this guide usually does

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.

Local Tip for Scotia Renters

Scotia has declined for most of the past century -- from a 1930 peak of 324 residents down to 158 by the 2020 Census -- and recent estimates can't even agree on what's happened since (159 vs. 97 for 2024, depending on the source). The sharpest finding from this guide's own research isn't a jurisdiction mismatch, the pattern found most often elsewhere in this coverage, but something rarer: no business, church, Town Hall address, or mayor's name could be identified anywhere in Scotia at all, and even Hampton County's own government website never mentions the town. The one genuinely clean result is that the town's geographic center does resolve inside its own incorporated limits via the Census Bureau's geocoder, confirming Scotia is a real, mapped municipality even though its public record is this thin. With no identified rental community, no published fee schedule, and no town office to call, getting every term of a Scotia lease in writing -- and confirming any specific address's jurisdiction directly with Hampton County -- matters more here than almost anywhere else in this series.

Frequently Asked Questions About Renting in Scotia

What is the average rent in Scotia, SC?: No reliable median gross rent figure could be identified for Scotia from the sources checked for this guide. City-Data.com's published 2024 American Community Survey estimate for the town renders its median household income and median house value as corrupted, impossible negative-billion-dollar figures -- an obvious data error rather than a real statistic -- and its rent figure for the town could not be clearly extracted either. A separate aggregator, DataUSA, reports a median household income of $25,500 (2020 estimate) but does not publish a rent figure at all. As of October 2026, this guide could not identify a single named apartment community, rental property, or even a general business operating inside Scotia, so any rent here is almost certainly set between an individual landlord and tenant rather than published anywhere.
Has Scotia, SC's population been growing or shrinking?: Shrinking for most of the past century, though the sharpest decline may have leveled off. Scotia peaked at 324 residents in 1930. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 227 residents in 2000, 215 in 2010, and 158 in 2020 -- a 26.5% drop in that final decade alone. More recent estimates disagree on what's happened since: City-Data.com's 2024 current-year estimate puts the town at 159, essentially flat against the 2020 count, while a separate ACS-based estimator, DataUSA, puts 2024 population at just 97 -- a further 39% drop that the other source doesn't show at all. This guide could not reconcile the two figures and reports both rather than picking one.
Does a "Scotia, SC" address reliably fall within the town's own incorporated limits?: Likely, based on the one check this guide could perform, though with an unusual limitation: no specific street address for a business, church, or Town Hall could be identified anywhere in Scotia from the sources checked, which is itself a notable finding distinct from the usual mailing-address-vs-jurisdiction mismatch found elsewhere in this coverage. Checked against the U.S. Census Bureau's public geocoder, the town's own geographic center -- near where U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) runs through town -- resolves cleanly inside the incorporated "Scotia town" boundary. That confirms the town exists as a real, mapped incorporated place, but without a specific address to test, a prospective tenant or business should still confirm any particular parcel's jurisdiction directly with Hampton County before assuming where a line falls.
What is Scotia, SC known for?: Not much that could be confirmed by this guide's research. Scotia sits on U.S. Route 321 (Columbia Highway) in southwestern Hampton County, roughly 17 miles southwest of the county seat of Hampton, between the small communities of Estill and Garnett. This guide could not identify a single named historic landmark, festival, business, or notable former resident associated with the town, nor could it find a Wikipedia history section, an active town government website, or a mayor's name -- an unusually thin public record even by the standard of the smallest towns covered in this series. Hampton County's own government website makes no mention of Scotia at all. What the town does show, per the 2020 Census, is a population that is 66.5% Black and 31.7% White, and a 2024 American Community Survey estimate putting the median resident age at 52.6 -- well above South Carolina's statewide median of 40.7.
Does Scotia have a zoning ordinance or business-license requirement?: Not confirmed either way by this guide's research, and more uncertain than most towns in this coverage because no town government website, mayor, or clerk contact could be identified at all. South Carolina's enabling statutes (S.C. Code §6-29-310 for zoning, §5-7-30 for business licenses) let any incorporated municipality adopt either, and incorporation itself confirms Scotia is a real municipal government, but this guide found no published ordinance, municipal code, or contact information confirming what -- if anything -- Scotia has adopted. A prospective tenant or small business should contact Hampton County directly (200 Jackson Avenue East, Hampton, SC 29924) to ask how to reach Scotia's own town government, rather than assume either way.
Does South Carolina or Scotia have rent control?: No. South Carolina law preempts local rent control statewide (S.C. Code §27-39-60): no city or county, including Scotia, may enact an ordinance regulating the rent charged on privately owned residential property. South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets the baseline tenant protections that apply in Scotia instead.

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