Best PlacesKershaw County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kershaw County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kershaw County ranks 1,389th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Walkability pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on fast internet.
The best neighborhoods in Kershaw 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 Kershaw County
The parts of Kershaw 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.
Elgin & Lugoff
Fewer homes sit empty, crime runs lower, and heat risk is lower.
Camden
More adults hold degrees, though prices have run up more.
Cassatt & Bethune
Homes cost less, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Kershaw County run from about the 5th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kershaw County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kershaw County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of counties
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 83% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 75% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 74% of counties
Where Kershaw County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Short commute30.0 minutes each way, better than only 16% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 21% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kershaw County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kershaw County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,030, 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 Kershaw County's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Kershaw County
Kershaw County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kershaw County.
Who works in Kershaw County, and how
Work in Kershaw 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 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kershaw County
Kershaw County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kershaw County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kershaw County growing, and who is moving in?
Kershaw County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Columbia, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kershaw County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kershaw County, month by month
Kershaw County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Kershaw County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kershaw County
Schools across Kershaw County average a B−, better than 72% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Beech Hill ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Lugoff ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Wateree ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Camden MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- North Central MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Leslie M. Stover MiddleC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Lugoff-elgin HighA− · 65% proficient
- Camden HighB+ · 56% proficient
- North Central HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kershaw County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kershaw 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 Kershaw County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kershaw County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kershaw County
Is Kershaw County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kershaw County ranks 1,389th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, low property taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on walkability and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kershaw County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,613. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $72,030 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Kershaw County safe?
Kershaw County is safer than 38% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $486 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kershaw County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 35. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kershaw County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Elgin & Lugoff, Camden, and Cassatt & Bethune. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Kershaw County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kershaw County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kershaw 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.
Kershaw County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kershaw County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kershaw County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kershaw County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kershaw County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kershaw 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.