Clinton is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States.

The first settler to inhabit the area was John Duncan, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, who arrived in 1752 from Pennsylvania and settled along a creek between the present-day towns of Clinton and Whitmire.

[8] Scots-Irish immigrants from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia became the predominant settlers in the area in the two decades before the American Revolutionary War and took active part in a Revolutionary War battle in 1780 at nearby Musgrove Mill.

[9] As late as 1852, the town was called Five Points because it arose at the intersection of four major roads and the railroad.

This came with the establishment of the Clinton Cotton Mill in 1896[13] by Mercer Silas Bailey, owner of the town's leading dry goods store.

[15] The mills continued to be a vital source of prosperity for Clinton until their closure in 2001[16] brought years of economic hardship from which the area is still struggling to emerge.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,633 people, 3,141 households, and 1,585 families residing in the city.

Black or African American is the most likely racial or ethnic group to be impoverished in Clinton, SC.

The city of Clinton is host to two media outlets that serve the community as well as surrounding Laurens County.

The Clinton Chronicle is the local newspaper and only print media source in town; it publishes new editions weekly.

Breaking news is published to www.clintonchronicle.com as well as www.myclintonnews.com, both operated by The Clinton Chronicle staff and updated regularly between editions.

The second form of media found in Clinton is the local radio station WPCC, 96.5 FM and 1410 AM.