Best PlacesColleton County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Colleton County, 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.
Colleton County ranks 3,049th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Colleton 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.
Colleton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colleton County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap childcare$581 a month, better than 74% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of counties
- QuietBetter than 71% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 63% of counties
Where Colleton County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute34.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Colleton County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colleton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,773, 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 Colleton County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Colleton County
Colleton County runs older than the country, 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 Colleton County.
Who works in Colleton County, and how
Work in Colleton County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Colleton County
The coast is about 56 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Colleton County, which the map shows.
Is Colleton County growing, and who is moving in?
Colleton County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charleston, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Colleton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Colleton County, month by month
Colleton County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Colleton County
Charleston AFB/International sits about 35 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Colleton County
Schools across Colleton County average a D, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cottageville ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Forest Hills ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Jane Edwards ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Haut Gap MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Lady's Island MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Colleton County MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaufort HighA− · 61% proficient
- Colleton County HighD · 20% proficient
- Baptist Hill HighD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colleton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colleton 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 Colleton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Colleton County suits
Common questions about living in Colleton County
Is Colleton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colleton County ranks 3,049th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Colleton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $183,986. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $56,773 median income, cost of living beats 6% of counties.
Is Colleton County safe?
Colleton County is safer than 8% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $739 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Colleton County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 39. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of counties.
Is Colleton County good for families?
Schools beat 8% of counties, crime safety beats 8%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
Compare Colleton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colleton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colleton 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.
Colleton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colleton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colleton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colleton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colleton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colleton 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.