Best PlacesBluffton, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bluffton, 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.
Bluffton ranks 780th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bluffton
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.
Bluffton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bluffton ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of cities
Where Bluffton ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bluffton
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bluffton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,742, 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 Bluffton's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Bluffton
Bluffton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bluffton.
Who works in Bluffton, and how
Work in Bluffton centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bluffton
Bluffton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bluffton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bluffton, month by month
Bluffton sees roughly 125 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 Bluffton
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bluffton
Schools across Bluffton average a B+, better than 81% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- River Ridge AcademyA · 62% proficient
- Pritchardville ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Okatie ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bluffton MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- H. E. Mccracken MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Hilton Head Island MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Bluffton HighA · 72% proficient
- May River HighA · 69% proficient
- Hilton Head Island HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bluffton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bluffton 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 Bluffton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bluffton suits
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of cities, health care access beats 84%, and it is quieter than 99%.
Common questions about living in Bluffton
Is Bluffton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bluffton ranks 780th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and low crime, 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 Bluffton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $501,951. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $98,742 median income, cost of living beats 70% of cities.
Is Bluffton safe?
Yes, Bluffton is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bluffton?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 44. That works out to about 125 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of cities.
Is Bluffton good for families?
Schools beat 81% of cities, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $901 a month.
Compare Bluffton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bluffton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bluffton 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.
Bluffton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bluffton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bluffton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bluffton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bluffton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bluffton 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.