Best PlacesFairfield County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fairfield County, 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.
Fairfield County ranks 2,945th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fairfield 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.
Fairfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fairfield County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 81% of counties
- Cheap childcare$581 a month, better than 74% of counties
- QuietBetter than 67% of counties
Where Fairfield County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fairfield County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,619, 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 Fairfield County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fairfield County
Fairfield County 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 Fairfield County.
Who works in Fairfield County, and how
Work in Fairfield County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Fairfield County
Fairfield County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fairfield County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fairfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Fairfield County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charlotte, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fairfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fairfield County, month by month
Fairfield County sees roughly 87 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 Fairfield County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 59 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fairfield County
Schools across Fairfield County average a D+, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fairfield Magnet For Math And ScienceA− · 60% proficient
- Mccrorey-liston School Of TechnologyD+ · 21% proficient
- Geiger ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Fairfield Central HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairfield County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairfield 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 Fairfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fairfield County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fairfield County
Is Fairfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairfield County ranks 2,945th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and fast internet, and lowest on crime and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fairfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,263. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $54,619 median income, cost of living beats 11% of counties.
Is Fairfield County safe?
Fairfield County is safer than 1% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,159 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fairfield County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 37. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of counties.
Is Fairfield County good for families?
Schools beat 21% of counties, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $581 a month.
Compare Fairfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairfield 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.
Fairfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairfield 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.