Best PlacesHilton Head Island, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Hilton Head Island metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Thierry Caro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via wiki
Hilton Head Island ranks 247th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Its strengths are quiet and health care access. The cost shows up in disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in the Hilton Head Island metro
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 Hilton Head Island
The towns and districts of the Hilton Head Island metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Bluffton & Okatie
Crime runs lower, fewer homes sit empty, and schools score higher.
Downtown Hilton Head Island
Prices have run up more and homes cost more.
Ladys Island
More residents vote, though local pay stretches less far.
Port Royal, Beaufort & St. Helena Island
Heat risk is lower, though incomes run lower.
Burton
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Laurel Bay
Tree cover is thicker, though health care is harder to reach.
Ridgeland
Biking is worse and commutes are longer.
Scores across Hilton Head Island run from about the 1st to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Hilton Head Island's strengths and weaknesses
Hilton Head Island lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Quiet is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Health care access and an educated workforce follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and walkability also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Hilton Head Island ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of metro areas
Where Hilton Head Island ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Hilton Head Island
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hilton Head Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,827, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Hilton Head Island's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island runs older than the country, 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 Hilton Head Island.
Who works in Hilton Head Island, and how
Work in Hilton Head Island centers on retail trade 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 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hilton Head Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Hilton Head Island growing, and who is moving in?
Hilton Head Island has grown about 18% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Greenville, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hilton Head Island go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hilton Head Island, month by month
Hilton Head Island sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 44. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 51° | 44° |
| April | 75° | 67° | 60° |
| July | 89° | 83° | 77° |
| October | 78° | 71° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Hilton Head Island
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hilton Head Island
Schools across Hilton Head Island average a B−, better than 61% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Pritchardville ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Michael C. Riley ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Red Cedar ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bluffton MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Hilton Head Island MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Lady's Island MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Bluffton HighA · 72% proficient
- Beaufort HighA− · 61% proficient
- Hilton Head Island HighA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hilton Head Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hilton Head Island 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 Hilton Head Island against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Hilton Head Island suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of metro areas and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of metro areas, health care access beats 95%, and it is quieter than 100%.
Common questions about living in Hilton Head Island
Is Hilton Head Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hilton Head Island ranks 247th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on quiet, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Hilton Head Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $479,573. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $87,827 median income, cost of living beats 73% of metro areas.
Is Hilton Head Island safe?
Yes, Hilton Head Island is safer than 58% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $407 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hilton Head Island?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 44. That works out to about 118 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Hilton Head Island?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bluffton & Okatie, Downtown Hilton Head Island, and Ladys Island. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Hilton Head Island good for families?
Schools beat 61% of metro areas, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $861 a month.
Is Hilton Head Island good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 19% of metro areas. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Hilton Head Island with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hilton Head Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hilton Head Island 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.
Hilton Head Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hilton Head Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hilton Head Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hilton Head Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hilton Head Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hilton Head Island 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.