Best PlacesDawkins, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dawkins, 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.
Dawkins ranks 47,770th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Dawkins
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.
Dawkins' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dawkins ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$573 a month, better than 81% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 77% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 71% of towns
Where Dawkins ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$47,723 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dawkins
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dawkins home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,723, 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 Dawkins' effective rate of 0.47%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dawkins
Dawkins 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 Dawkins.
Who works in Dawkins, and how
Work in Dawkins centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dawkins
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dawkins.
What the weather is like in Dawkins, month by month
Dawkins sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Dawkins
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dawkins
Schools across Dawkins average a C−, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pomaria-garmany ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Mccrorey-liston School Of TechnologyD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mid-carolina MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Mid-carolina HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Fairfield Central HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dawkins school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dawkins 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 Dawkins against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dawkins
Is Dawkins a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dawkins ranks 47,770th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on crime and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dawkins expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,889. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $47,723 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Dawkins safe?
Dawkins is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,159 per resident a year.
Compare Dawkins with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dawkins. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dawkins 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.
Dawkins detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dawkins: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dawkins: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dawkins: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dawkins: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dawkins 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.