Best Neighborhoods in Aiken, SC
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Aiken, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Aiken ranks 1,224th of 2,098 U.S. small cities on the BestNeighborhood index, and 17th of 35 South Carolina small cities. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
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Map of the best neighborhoods in Aiken
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.
Aiken's strengths and weaknesses
Where Aiken ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of small cities
- Low property taxBetter than 96% of small cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of small cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 72% of small cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 60% of small cities
Where Aiken ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of small cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of small cities
- BikingBetter than only 8% of small cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of small cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of small cities
What it costs to buy a home in Aiken
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Aiken home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,979, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.7% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-08-20 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 Aiken's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Aiken
Aiken runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Aiken.
Who works in Aiken, and how
Work in Aiken centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Aiken
Aiken has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of small cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of small cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Aiken and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Aiken, month by month
Aiken sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Aiken
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Aiken
Schools across Aiken average a C+, better than 41% of small cities.
Top elementary schools
- East Aiken School Of The ArtsB+ · 65% proficient
- Millbrook ElementaryB+ · 63% proficient
- Aiken ElementaryB · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tall Pines Stem AcademyA− · 59% proficient
- New Ellenton Steam Magnet MiddleC · 43% proficient
- M. B. Kennedy MiddleC− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Aiken Scholars AcademyA+ · 100% proficient
- Silver Bluff HighC+ · 51% proficient
- South Aiken HighC+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Aiken school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Aiken 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 Aiken against the other 2,097 small cities.
Who Aiken suits
Common questions about living in Aiken
Is Aiken a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Aiken ranks 1,224th of 2,098 small cities, and 17th of 35 South Carolina small cities. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Aiken expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $259,842. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $80,979 median income, cost of living beats 60% of small cities.
Is Aiken safe?
Aiken is safer than 24% of small cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $551 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Aiken?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of small cities.
Is Aiken good for families?
Schools beat 41% of small cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Compare Aiken with other small cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Aiken. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Aiken 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.
Aiken detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Aiken: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Aiken: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Aiken: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Aiken: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Aiken 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.