Best PlacesDorchester County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dorchester County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dorchester County ranks 1,151st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $85,875, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are disaster risk, long commutes, and car insurance costs.
The best neighborhoods in Dorchester 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 Dorchester County
The parts of Dorchester 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.
Summerville
North Charleston & Ladson
Prices have run up more and tree cover is thinner.
St. George & Harleyville
More homes sit empty and local pay stretches less far.
Dorchester County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Dorchester County's strengths and weaknesses
Dorchester County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. What local pay buys, few empty homes, and a strong job market carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and car insurance costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Dorchester County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 85% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 83% of counties
Where Dorchester County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 23% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dorchester County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorchester County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,875, 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 Dorchester County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dorchester County
Dorchester 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 Dorchester County.
Who works in Dorchester County, and how
Work in Dorchester County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dorchester County
Dorchester County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 39 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dorchester County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dorchester County growing, and who is moving in?
Dorchester County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Charleston, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dorchester County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dorchester County, month by month
Dorchester County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Dorchester County
Charleston AFB/International sits about 12 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 Dorchester County
Schools across Dorchester County average a B, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Beech Hill ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Sand Hill ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rollings Middle School Of The ArtsA+ · 78% proficient
- Alston MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Charles B. Dubose MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashley Ridge HighA · 78% proficient
- Summerville HighA · 73% proficient
- Fort Dorchester HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorchester County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorchester 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 Dorchester County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dorchester County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 55% of counties and health care access beats 65%.
Common questions about living in Dorchester County
Is Dorchester County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorchester County ranks 1,151st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, few empty homes, and a strong job market, 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 Dorchester County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $330,511. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $85,875 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Dorchester County safe?
Yes, Dorchester County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $424 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dorchester County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 40. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dorchester County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Summerville, North Charleston & Ladson, and St. George & Harleyville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Dorchester County good for families?
Schools beat 83% of counties, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Dorchester County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Dorchester County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorchester County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorchester 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.
Dorchester County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorchester County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorchester County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorchester County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorchester County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorchester 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.