States · South Carolina · Pickens County

Arial, South Carolina.

A community in Pickens County, with no city government of its own. Zillow publishes no home prices for it: see Pickens County’s.

Living in Arial, Pickens County, South Carolina

Arial, in Pickens County, had 2,729 people in the 2020 census. 90% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 10% are rented. Unemployment in Pickens County was 4.1% in August 2026, and the county had 1.8% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in shops, then manufacturing.

People 2,729 in the 2020 census
Household income Too few homes in Arial for the Census survey to measure.
Unemployment 4.1% Pickens County, August 2026; 4.5% a year before
Homes 90% lived in by their owners; 10% rented
  • 894households
  • 15%of adults have a degree
  • 8%below the poverty line
  • 28 mintypical commute
  • 5%work from home

What residents work in

  • Shops (retail)20%
  • Manufacturing18%
  • Schools, hospitals and social care14%
  • Banks, insurance and property9%
  • Restaurants, hotels and entertainment9%
  • Transport, warehouses and utilities8%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Pickens County had 40,585 jobs in 2025, 1.8% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 52° and 30°; warmest in July, 90° and 69° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° J 52° 30° F M A M J J 90° 69° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 52° and 30°; warmest in July, 90° and 69° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° J 52° 30° F M A M J J 90° 69° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 52° and lows near 30°; warmest in July, with highs near 90° and lows near 69°. About 1 inches of snow and 57 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Pickens weather station, 5 miles away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in Pickens County

  1. Clemson UniversityUniversity or college6,281
  2. Pickens 01 SchoolsSchool district2,283FTE
  3. Reliable Automatic Sprinkler - South CarolinaSprinkler systems, automatic fire, manufacturing886
  4. AramarkFood service contractors719
  5. King AsphaltPavement, highway, road, street, bridge or airport runway, construction550
  6. PH Baptist Easley HospitalGeneral hospital422FTE
  7. Yokohama Industries Americas South CarolinaAutomotive, truck and bus steering assemblies and parts manufacturing372
  8. Allsource EnterprisesFirefighting equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers340

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 68 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 9,991 people in all across the county; Arial has two of its own. Colleges come from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24), school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.

Natural hazards

  1. Ice stormsRelatively high
  2. LightningRelatively high
  3. Strong windRelatively moderate
  4. Cold wavesRelatively moderate
  5. Inland floodingRelatively moderate

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Arial’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.

From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Pickens County.