Best PlacesCherokee County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cherokee 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.
Cherokee County ranks 2,312th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on affordable childcare, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cherokee 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 Cherokee County
The parts of Cherokee 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.
Cowpens
Tree cover is thicker.
Blacksburg
More households have young kids, though more homes sit empty.
Gaffney
It is quieter, though local pay stretches less far.
East Gaffney
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
Scores across Cherokee County run from about the 2nd to the 67th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cherokee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cherokee County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$519 a month, better than 87% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 73% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 68% of counties
Where Cherokee County ranks low
- Household income$53,591 median, better than only 14% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 20% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cherokee County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cherokee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,591, 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 Cherokee County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Cherokee County
Cherokee 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 Cherokee County.
Who works in Cherokee County, and how
Work in Cherokee 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 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cherokee County
Cherokee County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cherokee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cherokee County growing, and who is moving in?
Cherokee County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Spartanburg, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cherokee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cherokee County, month by month
Cherokee County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Cherokee County
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cherokee County
Schools across Cherokee County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cowpens ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Chesnee ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Blacksburg ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chesnee MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Gaffney MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Blacksburg MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Broome HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Blacksburg HighB · 50% proficient
- Chesnee HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cherokee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cherokee 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 Cherokee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cherokee County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Cherokee County
Is Cherokee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cherokee County ranks 2,312th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on low incomes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cherokee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,954. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $53,591 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Cherokee County safe?
Cherokee County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $538 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cherokee County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cherokee County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cowpens, Blacksburg, and Gaffney. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cherokee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cherokee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cherokee 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.
Cherokee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cherokee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cherokee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cherokee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cherokee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cherokee 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.