Best PlacesCowpens, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cowpens, 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.
Cowpens ranks 29,699th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on fast internet, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cowpens
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.
Cowpens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cowpens ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of towns
- Short commute23.5 minutes each way, better than 72% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 69% of towns
Where Cowpens ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of towns
- Household income$56,182 median, better than only 21% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cowpens
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cowpens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,182, 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 Cowpens' 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 Cowpens
Cowpens runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cowpens.
Who works in Cowpens, and how
Work in Cowpens centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Cowpens
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cowpens.
What the weather is like in Cowpens, month by month
Cowpens sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Cowpens
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cowpens
Schools across Cowpens average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cowpens ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Pacolet ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Northwest ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chesnee MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Mccracken MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Rainbow Lake MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Broome HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Chesnee HighB− · 45% proficient
- Gaffney HighC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cowpens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cowpens 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 Cowpens against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cowpens
Is Cowpens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cowpens ranks 29,699th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on education levels and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cowpens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,503. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $56,182 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Cowpens safe?
Cowpens is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $420 per resident a year.
Compare Cowpens with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cowpens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cowpens 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.
Cowpens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cowpens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cowpens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cowpens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cowpens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cowpens 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.