Best PlacesBlythewood, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blythewood, 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.
Blythewood ranks 836th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blythewood
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.
Blythewood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blythewood ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 79% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 76% of cities
Where Blythewood ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Blythewood
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blythewood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,531, 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 Blythewood's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Blythewood
Blythewood'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 Blythewood.
Who works in Blythewood, and how
Work in Blythewood centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Blythewood
Blythewood has more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Blythewood and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Blythewood, month by month
Blythewood sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Blythewood
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blythewood
Schools across Blythewood average a B+, better than 75% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Brockman ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Round Top ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Lake Carolina Elementary Upper CampusB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Blythewood MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Kelly Mill MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Longleaf MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Blythewood HighA− · 66% proficient
- Westwood HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Ridge View HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blythewood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blythewood 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 Blythewood against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Blythewood suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of cities and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Blythewood
Is Blythewood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blythewood ranks 836th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, quiet, and an educated workforce, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blythewood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $328,777. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $98,531 median income, cost of living beats 76% of cities.
Is Blythewood safe?
Blythewood is safer than 24% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $492 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Blythewood?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 37. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of cities.
Is Blythewood good for families?
Schools beat 75% of cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $921 a month.
Compare Blythewood with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blythewood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blythewood 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.
Blythewood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blythewood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blythewood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blythewood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blythewood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blythewood 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.