Best PlacesLaurel Bay, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Laurel Bay, 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.
Laurel Bay ranks 34,236th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Laurel Bay
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.
Laurel Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Laurel Bay ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- QuietBetter than 79% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of towns
- BikingBetter than 76% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 71% of towns
Where Laurel Bay ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Laurel Bay
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Laurel Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,230, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Laurel Bay's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Laurel Bay
Laurel Bay runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Laurel Bay.
Who works in Laurel Bay, and how
Work in Laurel Bay centers on retail trade and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Laurel Bay
The coast is about 17 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Laurel Bay, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Laurel Bay, month by month
Laurel Bay sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| April | 81° | 68° | 55° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 75° |
| October | 83° | 70° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Laurel Bay
The nearest airport, Hilton Head, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Laurel Bay
Schools across Laurel Bay average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Whale Branch ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Joseph S. Shanklin ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
- Robert Smalls International AcademyF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Whale Branch MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Battery Creek HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Whale Branch Early College HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Laurel Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Laurel Bay 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 Laurel Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Laurel Bay
Is Laurel Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Laurel Bay ranks 34,236th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, quiet, and walkability, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Laurel Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $299,334. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $64,230 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Laurel Bay safe?
Yes, Laurel Bay is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare Laurel Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Laurel Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Laurel Bay 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.
Laurel Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Laurel Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Laurel Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Laurel Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Laurel Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Laurel Bay 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.