Best Places29920, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 29920, 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.
29920 ranks 25,194th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on quiet.
The best neighborhoods in 29920
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.
29920's strengths and weaknesses
Where 29920 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of zip codes
Where 29920 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Short commute31.8 minutes each way, better than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 29920
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 29920 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $77,048; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 29920's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 29920
29920 runs older 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 29920.
Who works in 29920, and how
Work in 29920 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 29920
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 29920, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 29920, month by month
29920 sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 43° |
| April | 76° | 66° | 59° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 78° | 69° | 63° |
Flying in and out of 29920
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around 29920
Schools across 29920 average a C, better than 41% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lady's Island ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- St. Helena ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lady's Island MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaufort HighA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 29920 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
29920 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 29920 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 29920
Is 29920 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 29920 ranks 25,194th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on disaster risk and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 29920 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $321,710. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $77,048 median income, cost of living beats 42% of zip codes.
Is 29920 safe?
29920 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $549 per resident a year.
Compare 29920 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 29920. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 29920 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.
29920 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 29920: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 29920: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 29920: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 29920: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
29920 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.