Best PlacesLadson, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ladson, 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.
Ladson ranks 1,535th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Ladson
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.
Ladson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ladson ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 78% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 72% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 70% of cities
Where Ladson ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 18% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of cities
- Short commute30.3 minutes each way, better than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Ladson
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ladson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,266, 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 Ladson's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ladson
Ladson runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ladson.
Who works in Ladson, and how
Work in Ladson 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ladson
The coast is about 33 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Ladson, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ladson, month by month
Ladson sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Ladson
Charleston AFB/International sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ladson
Schools across Ladson average a B−, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Joseph R. Pye ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Fort Dorchester ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alston MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Oakbrook MiddleC · 35% proficient
- River Oaks MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashley Ridge HighA · 78% proficient
- Fort Dorchester HighA · 69% proficient
- Rb Stall HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ladson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ladson 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 Ladson against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Ladson suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Ladson
Is Ladson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ladson ranks 1,535th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ladson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,051. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $85,266 median income, cost of living beats 61% of cities.
Is Ladson safe?
Ladson is safer than 48% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $403 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ladson?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 38. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of cities.
Is Ladson good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $912 a month.
Compare Ladson with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ladson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ladson 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.
Ladson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ladson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ladson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ladson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ladson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ladson 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.