Best PlacesIndependents, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Independents, 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.
Independents ranks 35,569th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Independents
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.
Independents' strengths and weaknesses
Where Independents ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 74% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
Where Independents ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- School gradeC, better than only 33% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Independents
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Independents home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,086, 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 Independents' effective rate of 0.44%, 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 Independents
Independents 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 Independents.
Who works in Independents, and how
Work in Independents centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Independents
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Independents.
What the weather is like in Independents, month by month
Independents sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Independents
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Independents
Schools across Independents average a C, better than 33% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sandy Run SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Meadowfield ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Hopkins ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crayton MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Hand MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Hopkins MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- A. C. Flora HighA− · 65% proficient
- Dreher HighA− · 61% proficient
- Lower Richland HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Independents school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Independents 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 Independents against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Independents
Is Independents a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Independents ranks 35,569th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low property taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on crime and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Independents expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,955. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $65,086 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Independents safe?
Independents is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,037 per resident a year.
Compare Independents with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Independents. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Independents 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.
Independents detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Independents: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Independents: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Independents: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Independents: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Independents 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.