Best Places29403, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 29403, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
29403 ranks 22,245th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 29403
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
29403's strengths and weaknesses
Where 29403 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Short commute17.1 minutes each way, better than 93% of zip codes
Where 29403 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 29403
A household needs to earn about $187,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 29403 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,793, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 29403's effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 29403
29403 runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 29403.
Who works in 29403, and how
Work in 29403 centers on hospitality & food and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in 29403
29403 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 90% of zip codes. The coast is about 12 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 29403 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 29403, month by month
29403 sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 42° |
| April | 76° | 66° | 58° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 79° | 69° | 62° |
Flying in and out of 29403
Charleston AFB/International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 29403
Schools across 29403 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
- James Simons MontessoriC− · 30% proficient
- Charleston ProgressiveC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- C. E. Williams Middle School For Creative And Scientific ArtC · 34% proficient
- Morningside MiddleF · 6% proficient
- Simmons Pinckney MiddleF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- West Ashley HighA− · 64% proficient
- Charleston Charter School For Math And ScienceC+ · 40% proficient
- Burke HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 29403 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
29403 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 29403 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 29403 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 29403
Is 29403 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 29403 ranks 22,245th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 29403 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $748,802. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $68,793 median income, cost of living beats 20% of zip codes.
Is 29403 safe?
29403 is safer than 2% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,276 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 29403?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 42. That works out to about 103 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of zip codes.
Is 29403 good for families?
Schools beat 36% of zip codes, crime safety beats 2%, and childcare runs $923 a month.
Compare 29403 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 29403. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 29403 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
29403 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 29403: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 29403: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 29403: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 29403: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
29403 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.