Best PlacesIva, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Iva, 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.
Iva ranks 26,735th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Iva
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.
Iva's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iva ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of towns
Where Iva ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of towns
- Household income$54,547 median, better than only 18% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Iva
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iva home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,547, 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 Iva's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Iva
Iva runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Iva.
Who works in Iva, and how
Work in Iva 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 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Iva
Iva has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Iva and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Iva, month by month
Iva sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 44° | 32° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Iva
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iva
Schools across Iva average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wright ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Starr ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Flat Rock ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Honea Path MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Starr-iva MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Dixie HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Crescent HighA− · 60% proficient
- Belton Honea Path HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iva school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iva 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 Iva against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Iva
Is Iva a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iva ranks 26,735th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on education levels and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iva expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,782. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,547 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Iva safe?
Iva is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
Compare Iva with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iva. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iva 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.
Iva detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iva: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iva: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iva: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iva: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iva 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.