Best PlacesBrookdale, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Brookdale, 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.
Brookdale ranks 50,141st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Brookdale
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.
Brookdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brookdale ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 87% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
Where Brookdale ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$45,537 median, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Brookdale
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brookdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,537, 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 Brookdale's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brookdale
Brookdale's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brookdale.
Who works in Brookdale, and how
Work in Brookdale centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Brookdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Brookdale.
What the weather is like in Brookdale, month by month
Brookdale sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Brookdale
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 62 miles away.
Brookdale 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 Brookdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Brookdale
Is Brookdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brookdale ranks 50,141st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, affordable childcare, and fast internet, and lowest on crime and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Brookdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,143. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $45,537 median income, cost of living beats 9% of towns.
Is Brookdale safe?
Brookdale is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,965 per resident a year.
Compare Brookdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brookdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brookdale 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.
Brookdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brookdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brookdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brookdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brookdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brookdale 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.