Best PlacesBarnwell County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Barnwell County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Barnwell County ranks 2,715th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Barnwell 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.
The best areas in Barnwell County
The parts of Barnwell County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Williston
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and heat risk is lower.
Barnwell
Homes cost more and commutes are longer.
Blackville
Scores across Barnwell County run from about the 3rd to the 57th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Barnwell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barnwell County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap childcare$469 a month, better than 94% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 113 pleasant days a year, better than 70% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of counties
Where Barnwell County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of counties
- Household income$53,714 median, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Barnwell County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barnwell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,714, 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 Barnwell County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Barnwell County
Barnwell County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Barnwell County.
Who works in Barnwell County, and how
Work in Barnwell County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Barnwell County
Barnwell County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Barnwell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Barnwell County growing, and who is moving in?
Barnwell County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbia, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Barnwell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Barnwell County, month by month
Barnwell County sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Barnwell County
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barnwell County
Schools across Barnwell County average a D+, better than 19% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Barnwell PrimaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barnwell ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Barnwell HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barnwell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barnwell 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 Barnwell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Barnwell County suits
Common questions about living in Barnwell County
Is Barnwell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barnwell County ranks 2,715th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on crime and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barnwell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,304. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,714 median income, cost of living beats 13% of counties.
Is Barnwell County safe?
Barnwell County is safer than 8% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $791 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Barnwell County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 38. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Barnwell County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Williston, Barnwell, and Blackville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Barnwell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barnwell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barnwell 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.
Barnwell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barnwell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barnwell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barnwell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barnwell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barnwell 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.