Best PlacesGaffney, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gaffney, 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.
Gaffney ranks 1,896th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Gaffney
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.
Gaffney's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gaffney ranks high
- Cheap childcare$519 a month, better than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 92% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of cities
Where Gaffney ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of cities
- Household income$53,845 median, better than only 3% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Gaffney
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gaffney home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,845, 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 Gaffney's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Gaffney
Gaffney'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 Gaffney.
Who works in Gaffney, and how
Work in Gaffney centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Gaffney
Gaffney has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 77% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gaffney and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gaffney, month by month
Gaffney sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Gaffney
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gaffney
Schools across Gaffney average a C, better than 22% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Cowpens ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Chesnee ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Blacksburg ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chesnee MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Gaffney MiddleC− · 28% proficient
- Blacksburg MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- York Comprehensive HighB+ · 57% proficient
- Blacksburg HighB · 50% proficient
- Chesnee HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gaffney school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gaffney 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 Gaffney against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Gaffney suits
Common questions about living in Gaffney
Is Gaffney a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gaffney ranks 1,896th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gaffney expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,218. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $53,845 median income, cost of living beats 13% of cities.
Is Gaffney safe?
Gaffney is safer than 17% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $568 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gaffney?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of cities.
Is Gaffney good for families?
Schools beat 22% of cities, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $519 a month.
Compare Gaffney with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gaffney. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gaffney 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.
Gaffney detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gaffney: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gaffney: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gaffney: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gaffney: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gaffney 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.