Best PlacesFinklea, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Finklea, 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.
Finklea ranks 34,148th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Finklea
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.
Finklea's strengths and weaknesses
Where Finklea ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- QuietBetter than 73% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 70% of towns
Where Finklea ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Finklea
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Finklea home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,171, 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 Finklea's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Finklea
Finklea's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Finklea.
Who works in Finklea, and how
Work in Finklea 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 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Finklea
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Finklea, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Finklea, month by month
Finklea sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Finklea
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Finklea
Schools across Finklea average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Green Sea Floyds ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Loris ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Aynor MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Tabor City MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Loris MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Aynor HighA− · 66% proficient
- Loris HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Green Sea Floyds HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Finklea school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Finklea 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 Finklea against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Finklea
Is Finklea a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Finklea ranks 34,148th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, fast internet, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Finklea expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,750. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $59,171 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Finklea safe?
Yes, Finklea is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
Compare Finklea with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Finklea. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Finklea 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.
Finklea detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Finklea: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Finklea: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Finklea: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Finklea: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Finklea 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.