Best PlacesDorchester Estates, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dorchester Estates, 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.
Dorchester Estates ranks 18,050th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dorchester Estates
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.
Dorchester Estates' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorchester Estates ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of towns
Where Dorchester Estates ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dorchester Estates
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorchester Estates home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,192, 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 Estates' effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Dorchester Estates
Dorchester Estates runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dorchester Estates.
Who works in Dorchester Estates, and how
Work in Dorchester Estates centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dorchester Estates
The coast is about 36 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Dorchester Estates, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dorchester Estates, month by month
Dorchester Estates sees roughly 100 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 Estates
Charleston AFB/International sits about 16 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 Estates
Schools across Dorchester Estates average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cane Bay ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Nexton ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cane Bay MiddleB · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorchester Estates school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorchester Estates 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 Estates against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dorchester Estates
Is Dorchester Estates a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorchester Estates ranks 18,050th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, a strong job market, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorchester Estates expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $285,823. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $91,192 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Dorchester Estates safe?
Dorchester Estates is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare Dorchester Estates with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorchester Estates. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorchester Estates 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 Estates detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorchester Estates: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorchester Estates: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorchester Estates: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorchester Estates: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorchester Estates 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.