Best PlacesGarnett, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Garnett, 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.
Garnett ranks 50,326th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Garnett
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.
Garnett's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garnett ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$577 a month, better than 81% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 108 pleasant days a year, better than 74% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 68% of towns
Where Garnett ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute46.0 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$37,838 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Garnett
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garnett home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $37,838, 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 Garnett's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Garnett
Garnett's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Garnett.
Who works in Garnett, and how
Work in Garnett centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Garnett
Garnett has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Garnett and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Garnett, month by month
Garnett sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 79° | 66° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Garnett
The nearest airport, Savannah/Hilton Head International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garnett
Schools across Garnett average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Springfield Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Ridgeland ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Effingham County Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Screven County Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Screven County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Ridgeland Secondary Academy Of ExcellenceD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garnett school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garnett 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 Garnett against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Garnett
Is Garnett a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garnett ranks 50,326th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and the weather, and lowest on crime and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garnett expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $83,500. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $37,838 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Garnett safe?
Garnett is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,430 per resident a year.
Compare Garnett with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garnett. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garnett 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.
Garnett detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garnett: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garnett: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garnett: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garnett: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garnett 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.