Best PlacesLanford, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lanford, 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.
Lanford ranks 31,789th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low property taxes, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lanford
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.
Lanford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lanford ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
Where Lanford ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 26% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lanford
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lanford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,676, 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 Lanford's effective rate of 0.38%, 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 Lanford
Lanford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lanford.
Who works in Lanford, and how
Work in Lanford centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lanford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lanford.
What the weather is like in Lanford, month by month
Lanford sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Lanford
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lanford
Schools across Lanford average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodruff ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Gray Court-owings Elementary/middleD− · 15% proficient
- Ford ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodruff MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Sanders MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodruff HighA · 70% proficient
- Laurens District 55 HighC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lanford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lanford 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 Lanford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lanford
Is Lanford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lanford ranks 31,789th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and affordable childcare, and lowest on the schools and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lanford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,337. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $67,676 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Lanford safe?
Lanford is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $419 per resident a year.
Compare Lanford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lanford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lanford 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.
Lanford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lanford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lanford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lanford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lanford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lanford 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.