Best PlacesBamberg County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bamberg County, 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.
Bamberg County ranks 3,109th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Bamberg County
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.
Bamberg County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bamberg County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$519 a month, better than 87% of counties
- QuietBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 109 pleasant days a year, better than 67% of counties
Where Bamberg County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Household income$46,278 median, better than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD−, better than only 5% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bamberg County
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bamberg County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,278, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Bamberg County's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bamberg County
Bamberg County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bamberg County.
Who works in Bamberg County, and how
Work in Bamberg County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Bamberg County
Bamberg County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bamberg County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bamberg County growing, and who is moving in?
Bamberg County has lost about 15% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bamberg County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bamberg County, month by month
Bamberg County sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Bamberg County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bamberg County
Schools across Bamberg County average a D−, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barnwell PrimaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Allendale-fairfax ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Bells ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- St. George MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Colleton County MiddleD · 19% proficient
- Allendale-fairfax MiddleF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnwell HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Allendale Fairfax HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bamberg County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bamberg County 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 Bamberg County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Bamberg County
Is Bamberg County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bamberg County ranks 3,109th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on crime and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bamberg County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,195. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $46,278 median income, cost of living beats 6% of counties.
Is Bamberg County safe?
Bamberg County is safer than 0% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,437 per resident a year.
Compare Bamberg County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bamberg County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bamberg County 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.
Bamberg County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bamberg County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bamberg County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bamberg County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bamberg County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bamberg County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.