Best Places29928, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 29928, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
29928 ranks 10,375th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 29928
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.
29928's strengths and weaknesses
Where 29928 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Short commute17.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Household income$112,224 median, better than 87% of zip codes
Where 29928 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 29928
A household needs to earn about $204,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 29928 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $112,224, 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 29928's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 29928
29928 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 29928.
Who works in 29928, and how
Work in 29928 centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 29928
29928 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of zip codes. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 29928 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 29928, month by month
29928 sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 51° | 44° |
| April | 75° | 67° | 60° |
| July | 89° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 78° | 71° | 64° |
Flying in and out of 29928
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around 29928
Schools across 29928 average a B, better than 67% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Michael C. Riley ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hilton Head Island ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Hilton Head Island School For The Creative ArtsB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hilton Head Island MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Lady's Island MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaufort HighA− · 61% proficient
- Hilton Head Island HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 29928 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
29928 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 29928 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 29928
Is 29928 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 29928 ranks 10,375th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and short commutes, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 29928 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $812,932. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $112,224 median income, cost of living beats 88% of zip codes.
Is 29928 safe?
29928 is safer than 41% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $464 per resident a year.
Compare 29928 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 29928. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 29928 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.
29928 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 29928: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 29928: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 29928: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 29928: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
29928 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.