Best PlacesConway, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Conway, 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.
Conway ranks 1,740th 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 Conway
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.
Conway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Conway ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 70% of cities
Where Conway ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 4% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Conway
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Conway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,973, 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 Conway's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Conway
Conway runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Conway.
Who works in Conway, and how
Work in Conway centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Conway
Conway has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 25 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Conway and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Conway, month by month
Conway sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Conway
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Conway
Schools across Conway average a B, better than 65% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean Bay ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- St. James ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Midland ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ocean Bay MiddleA · 63% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Black Water MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Hcs Early College HighA+ · 80% proficient
- St. James HighA · 77% proficient
- Carolina Forest HighA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Conway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Conway 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 Conway against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Conway suits
Common questions about living in Conway
Is Conway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Conway ranks 1,740th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, low property taxes, and low crime, and lowest on disaster risk and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Conway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,749. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,973 median income, cost of living beats 17% of cities.
Is Conway safe?
Yes, Conway is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Conway?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 36. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of cities.
Is Conway good for families?
Schools beat 65% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Compare Conway with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Conway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Conway 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.
Conway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Conway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Conway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Conway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Conway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Conway 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.