Best PlacesGreenville County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Greenville County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Greenville County ranks 333rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $84,550, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, an overheated housing market, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Greenville 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 Greenville County
The parts of Greenville 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.
Simpsonville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and prices have run up less.
Greenville & Wade Hampton
More adults hold degrees, though crime runs higher.
Taylors
Tree cover is thicker and it is quieter.
Greer
Biking is worse.
Mauldin, Gantt & Pelzer
Scores close to Greer, except that health care is harder to reach here.
Travelers Rest & Marietta
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Parker, Berea & Sans Souci
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Piedmont
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Greenville County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Greenville County's strengths and weaknesses
Greenville County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys, an educated workforce, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, an overheated housing market, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Greenville County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
Where Greenville County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$923 a month, better than only 25% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 26% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 75 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 37% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Greenville County
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Greenville County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $84,550; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Greenville County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Greenville County
Greenville 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 Greenville County.
Who works in Greenville County, and how
Work in Greenville County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Greenville County
Greenville County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 97% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Greenville County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Greenville County growing, and who is moving in?
Greenville County has grown about 18% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Greenville, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Greenville County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Greenville County, month by month
Greenville County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Greenville County
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 82 miles away.
The best schools in and around Greenville County
Schools across Greenville County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Augusta Circle ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Monarch ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Sterling SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Langston Charter MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Wren MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Polk County Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Greer Middle College Charter HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Greenville Technical Charter High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Polk County Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Greenville County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Greenville 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 Greenville County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Greenville County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Greenville County
Is Greenville County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Greenville County ranks 333rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and low disaster risk, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Greenville County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $336,817. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $84,550 median income, cost of living beats 89% of counties.
Is Greenville County safe?
Yes, Greenville County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $421 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Greenville County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 33. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Greenville County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Simpsonville, Greenville & Wade Hampton, and Taylors. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Greenville County good for families?
Schools beat 84% of counties, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $923 a month.
Is Greenville County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Greenville County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Greenville County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Greenville 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.
Greenville County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Greenville County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Greenville County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Greenville County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Greenville County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Greenville 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.