Best Places29936, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 29936, 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.
29936 ranks 30,817th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 29936
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.
29936's strengths and weaknesses
Where 29936 ranks high
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 90% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 70% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 98 pleasant days a year, better than 62% of zip codes
Where 29936 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 29936
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 29936 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,081; 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 29936'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 29936
29936 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 29936.
Who works in 29936, and how
Work in 29936 centers on retail trade and admin & support services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 29936
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 29936, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 29936, month by month
29936 sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| April | 81° | 68° | 55° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of 29936
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around 29936
Schools across 29936 average a D, better than 6% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Okatie ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Hardeeville ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Ridgeland ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bluffton MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Bluffton HighA · 72% proficient
- Polaris Tech Charter SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Ridgeland Secondary Academy Of ExcellenceD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 29936 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
29936 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 29936 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 29936
Is 29936 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 29936 ranks 30,817th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 29936 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $285,920. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $69,081 median income, cost of living beats 38% of zip codes.
Is 29936 safe?
29936 is safer than 8% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $863 per resident a year.
Compare 29936 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 29936. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 29936 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.
29936 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 29936: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 29936: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 29936: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 29936: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
29936 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.