Beaufort is a somewhat small coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 12,789 people and six constituent neighborhoods, Beaufort is the 39th largest community in South Carolina.

Beaufort is a military town: the armed forces employs 20.10% of the workforce, making the military a major focus of life in the city. In the civilian sector, Retail and Healthcare are prominent in the local economy and are the city's largest civilian employers, employing 13.85% and 12.65% of the civilian workforce respectively.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Beaufort are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One of the benefits of Beaufort is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.49 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

In Beaufort, a lot of people use the bus to get to work every day even though Beaufort is a relatively small city. Those that ride the bus are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.

Beaufort Information and Demographics

The education level of Beaufort citizens is substantially higher than the average US city or town, as 28.67% of adults in Beaufort have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Beaufort in 2000 was $20,501, which is upper middle income relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $82,004 for a family of four.

Beaufort is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Beaufort home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Beaufort is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Beaufort include English, German, Irish, French, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Beaufort is English. Some people also speak Spanish.