Manning 29102 at a glance
Manning is the county seat of Clarendon County, near Interstate 95, roughly midway between Florence and Charleston. The city’s 3,863 residents (2024 American Community Survey estimate) have a median household income of $28,569, up 3.5% from $27,597 the prior year, according to Census ACS data. The homeownership rate is 53.7%, well under the 65.2% national rate, and the average commute is 25.1 minutes. Median property value for the full owner-occupied stock was $157,600 in 2024, up 3.2% from $152,700 the year before.
What “29102” actually covers
The zip code is larger than the city. It includes Manning proper plus a ring of unincorporated Clarendon County, so a search filtered to “29102” can surface a farmhouse or a Lake Marion property that a city-limits search would miss. Anyone comparing “the median price in 29102” to “the median price in Manning” is often comparing two different footprints.
Is 29102 all Manning, or does it include surrounding areas?It includes surrounding unincorporated Clarendon County beyond the roughly 2.4-square-mile city limits. Listings tagged 29102 can sit well outside town.
What homes cost right now
Five sources, five numbers, each measuring something different. Homes.com’s trailing 12-month closed-sale median is $287,000 across 138 sales, the largest closed-sale sample of the five. Movoto’s May 2026 asking-price median is $284,000, at $161 per square foot. RealtyTrac’s zip-wide snapshot puts the asking median at $290,169. Redfin’s three-month window for the city alone shows closings at a median of $167,000, down 22.4% year over year. Census-based assessed value for the whole owner-occupied stock is $157,600.
Why the five figures differ
| Source type | Figure | Time window | Scope | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS assessed value | $157,600 | 2024 annual estimate | Full owner-occupied stock, all vintages | Includes decades-old purchases never resold |
| Redfin closed sales, city | $167,000 | 3 mo. ending May 2026 | 10 closings | Small monthly base swings sharply |
| Homes.com closed sales, city | $287,000 | Trailing 12 months | 138 closings | A full year smooths month-to-month noise |
| Movoto asking price, city | $284,000 | May 2026 | Active listings | Asking price, before negotiation |
| RealtyTrac asking price, zip | $290,169 | Undated snapshot | 273 active listings | Zip-wide, no stated refresh methodology |
The $287,000 twelve-month figure is the closest thing to a working number for a typical closed sale in Manning proper, since it rests on the largest closed-sale sample among the five.
Why do different sites show different median prices for this zip code?They measure different things: closed sales versus asking prices, one month versus twelve, and the zip code versus the city limits. None of the five is wrong; each answers a narrower question than “what does a house here cost.”
Buying vs. renting in 29102
Buying: Homes.com’s affordability calculator puts the median home price at $308,500; a 20% down payment ($61,700) on a 30-year fixed loan at 6.51% runs about $1,560 a month in principal and interest before taxes, insurance, or HOA fees, implying roughly $67,000 in household income under the 28% rule. Renting: Census-sourced data compiled by Point2Homes puts median gross rent at $594 a month, with renters here paying a 36% rent-to-income ratio against a median renter household income of $19,786, above the 30% threshold usually considered affordable.
Is Manning a buyer’s or seller’s market right now?Listings sit for 99 to 110 days on average across the sources tracking the city, above a fast-moving market’s pace. That favors buyers on negotiating room, though the $80,000-to-$1.3-million price spread means leverage varies sharply by price tier.
For investors – distress and inventory signals
Of roughly 513 tracked properties in zip 29102, RealtyTrac counts 16 in foreclosure, 4 bank-owned, and 5 headed for auction, alongside 273 active listings, putting the foreclosure share at about 3.1% of tracked properties. Holding costs run light: Ownwell puts Manning’s effective property tax rate at 1.86%, above the 1.02% national median rate. The median annual bill is $377.
| Category | Count | Share of ~513 tracked properties |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 273 | 53.2% |
| Foreclosure | 16 | 3.1% |
| Pre-foreclosure | 7 | 1.4% |
| Bank-owned (REO) | 4 | 0.8% |
| Scheduled for auction | 5 | 1.0% |
What should an investor watch for in this zip code specifically?The foreclosure and auction counts above, the 1.86% effective tax rate against a low median bill, and the fact that RealtyTrac’s own price figure is the outlier among the five in the pricing section.
How Manning compares to nearby markets
| Market | Closed-sale median | Market pace | Distance from Manning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manning (29102) | $287,000 (12 mo.) | 99 days on market | – | County seat; mixed lake, rural, in-town stock |
| Sumter (29150) | $271,000 (Mar. 2026) | 63 days on market | 19 mi. NW | Larger city; broader retail and job base |
| Summerton (29148) | $482,000 (Oct. 2024) | 59 days on market | 10 mi. SW | Only 4 sales that month; waterfront-skewed |
Summerton’s headline number looks like the priciest of the three, but it rests on four transactions in a lake-heavy zip code; Sumter’s larger sample and faster pace make it the steadier comparison for a short move.
Schools, commute, and daily life
Clarendon County School District serves about 4,216 students district-wide at a 16:1 student-teacher ratio, with 39% math and 54% reading proficiency on state tests, per Niche. GreatSchools rates Manning Elementary and Manning Primary each 4 out of 10. Laurence Manning Academy, a private school, is also based in the city. The average commute is 25.1 minutes; Columbia is about 64 miles and roughly an hour and fifteen minutes away, and Charleston is about 90 miles and roughly an hour and twenty-five minutes via I-26.
Every April, Manning hosts the Clarendon County Striped Bass Festival on Lake Marion. The 2026 edition marked its 45th year, with Super Weekend held April 24–25 downtown around Courthouse Square, including a parade and car show, per The Sumter Item.
Common mistakes reading zip-code data
- Treating a small monthly sample as a trend. The city’s 22.4% year-over-year swing in the pricing table rests on 10 closings; a handful of sales can move that number sharply.
- Confusing assessed value with sale price. The Census-derived $157,600 figure describes the existing owned stock, not what a home listed today will fetch.
- Assuming 29102 means Manning proper. Zip-level figures pull in outlying county parcels a city-limits search would exclude.
- Reading RealtyTrac’s asking median as a closing price. It is the highest of the five figures reconciled above, and it is not a closed-sale number.
None of the five sources above is fabricated or wrong. Each is answering a narrower question, measured a different way, over a different window, across a different footprint.
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