Best PlacesKensington, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kensington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kensington ranks 43,011th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kensington
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.
Kensington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kensington ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 74% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 107 pleasant days a year, better than 72% of towns
Where Kensington ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$59,034 median, better than only 26% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kensington
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kensington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,034, 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 Kensington's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Kensington
Kensington'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 Kensington.
Who works in Kensington, and how
Work in Kensington 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 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kensington
The coast is about 20 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kensington, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kensington, month by month
Kensington sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Kensington
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kensington
Schools across Kensington average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kensington ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Mcdonald ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Georgetown MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Georgetown HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kensington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kensington 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 Kensington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kensington
Is Kensington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kensington ranks 43,011th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, fast internet, and low property taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kensington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,543. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $59,034 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Kensington safe?
Kensington is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $677 per resident a year.
Compare Kensington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kensington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kensington 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.
Kensington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kensington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kensington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kensington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kensington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kensington 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.