Best PlacesDuncan, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Duncan, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Duncan ranks 9,751st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Duncan
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.
Duncan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duncan ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of towns
Where Duncan ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Duncan
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duncan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,898, 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 Duncan's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Duncan
Duncan runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Duncan.
Who works in Duncan, and how
Work in Duncan centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Duncan
Duncan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Duncan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Duncan, month by month
Duncan sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Duncan
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Duncan
Schools across Duncan average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Abner Creek AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
- Reidville ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- River Ridge ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Berry Shoals IntermediateB− · 42% proficient
- Beech Springs IntermediateC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- James F. Byrnes HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Duncan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duncan 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 Duncan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Duncan
Is Duncan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duncan ranks 9,751st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, fast internet, and population health, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Duncan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $277,291. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $82,898 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Duncan safe?
Yes, Duncan is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $382 per resident a year.
Compare Duncan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duncan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duncan 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.
Duncan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duncan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duncan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duncan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duncan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duncan 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.