Best PlacesFlorence County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Florence County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Florence County ranks 2,331st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on disaster risk and crime. It does better on low property taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Florence 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 Florence County
The parts of Florence 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.
Florence & Timmonsville
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Olanta
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Johnsonville, Pamplico & Scranton
Homes cost less, though more homes sit empty.
Lake City
Crime runs higher and schools score lower.
Scores across Florence County run from about the 1st to the 87th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Florence County's strengths and weaknesses
Florence County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low property taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Disaster risk, crime, and summer heat hold the score down. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Florence County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of counties
- Short commute22.0 minutes each way, better than 66% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 63% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 63% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 61% of counties
Where Florence County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 27% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Florence County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Florence County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,903, 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 Florence County'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Florence County
Florence 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 Florence County.
Who works in Florence County, and how
Work in Florence 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 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Florence County
Florence County has more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Florence County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Florence County growing, and who is moving in?
Florence County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Florence, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Florence County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Florence County, month by month
Florence County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Florence County
The nearest airport, Florence Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Florence County
Schools across Florence County average a C, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Royall ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Carver ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Briggs ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- John W. Moore MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Spaulding MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Darlington MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Hannah Pamplico HighA− · 60% proficient
- South Florence HighB+ · 53% proficient
- West Florence HighB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Florence County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Florence 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 Florence County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Florence County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Florence County
Is Florence County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Florence County ranks 2,331st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Florence County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,304. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $63,903 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Florence County safe?
Florence County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $679 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Florence County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 35. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Florence County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Florence & Timmonsville, Olanta, and Johnsonville, Pamplico & Scranton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Florence County good for families?
Schools beat 47% of counties, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Florence County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 40% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 61% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Florence County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Florence County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Florence 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.
Florence County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Florence County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Florence County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Florence County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Florence County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Florence 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.