Chapin has been deemed the “rich” kid school by outsiders, but based on statistics the Chapin is the least wealthy city in Lexington County. This includes Chapin, Dutch Fork, and Irmo. The population differences, however, are drastic. The Dutch Fork area tops the three with a population of 66,450, while Irmo has 11,942, and Chapin has 11,351. With this smaller population, Chapin’s school may seem a little bit more concentrated and focused. But what gives us the reputation of being the spoiled rich kids?
The answer may come in geography. Chapin High is the closest of the three District 5 high schools to Lake Murray. As many know, living on the lake isn’t cheap. In fact, Chapin’s average listing price for a home is double Irmo’s and triple Dutch Fork’s. Chapin also has a higher average income than the state average. Chapin’s average income is $77,542 while the state average is $42,442. Newberry, which is only miles away from Chapin, has an average income of $28, 773; this is drastically smaller than Chapin’s income. I understand now why the Newberry and Prosperity schools may have this bias towards Chapin.
Most of the upper-classmen currently have jobs and pay for many of their personal belongings. It is true that a lot of students come from wealthy families because Chapin is a lake-community and lake homes attract the wealthy, but, not everybody in Chapin comes from a wealthy background. Based on research, only 12% of the population in Chapin has an income above $99,000. So roughly about 1,362 out of 11,351 citizens are part of the upper-class or upper-middle class in Chapin.
Chapin’s average income for a household is $77,542. Newberry has an average income of $28,773.
Recently I’ve heard the word “spoiled” has been tossed into conversations about Chapin. By definition spoiled is to “do harm to the character, nature, or attitude of by over-solicitude, overindulgence, or excessive praise.” So do we have spoiled kids at our school? Maybe, but don’t try to tell me that Irmo and Dutch Fork don’t have their fair share of “spoiled” students. Actually out of all the three cities, Irmo’s citizens have a greater percentage of the population making over $99,000 per year.
“Chapin’s a 3A school and Irmo and Dutch Fork are 4A schools so it may seem smaller.” Said Dutch Fork sophomore Bailey Shealy. As we know, Chapin is a small town that seems to be getting smaller everyday. We’ve all joked about how boring Chapin is and how “nothing ever happens at Chapin” and when something does happen everybody and their brother knows about it.
“I mean every school has a reputation, but I feel like Chapin is in a bubble and most of us don’t really focus on life outside of Chapin so I see how that could be seen as acting snobby or spoiled.” Said Mary Efird, a sophomore. Really, every school has its “rich kids” and Chapin does too, but what people need to realize is that Chapin also has a lot of students who come from middle-class families and live without extreme luxuries like a brand new BMW or a three story, lakefront house.
