Best PlacesLexington County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lexington 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.
Lexington County ranks 760th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on fast internet and what local pay buys. The weaker spots are the weather, childcare costs, and walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Lexington 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 Lexington County
The parts of Lexington 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.
Chapin & Gilbert
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Lexington, Columbia & Seven Oaks
Tree cover is thicker, though homes cost more.
Red Bank
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
South Congaree
Schools score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Cayce & Springdale
Biking is better, though crime runs higher.
Leesville, Pelion & Batesburg-Leesville
Health outcomes score lower.
West Columbia
Commutes are shorter, though prices have run up more.
Gaston & Swansea
More homes sit empty and fewer residents vote.
Lexington County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lexington County's strengths and weaknesses
Lexington County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Fast internet, what local pay buys, and transit carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, childcare costs, and walkability hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lexington County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of counties
Where Lexington County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of counties
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 27% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 28% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
- Short commute26.0 minutes each way, better than only 36% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lexington County
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lexington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,012, 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 Lexington 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 Lexington County
Lexington County'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 Lexington County.
Who works in Lexington County, and how
Work in Lexington County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lexington County
Lexington County has more late-night spots per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lexington County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lexington County growing, and who is moving in?
Lexington County has grown about 13% 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 Lexington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lexington County, month by month
Lexington County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Lexington County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lexington County
Schools across Lexington County average a B−, better than 70% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Murray ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Lake Murray ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- New Providence ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chapin IntermediateA · 64% proficient
- Meadow Glen MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Irmo MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Chapin HighA+ · 80% proficient
- River Bluff HighA− · 65% proficient
- Lexington HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lexington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lexington 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 Lexington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lexington County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lexington County
Is Lexington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lexington County ranks 760th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, what local pay buys, and transit, and lowest on the weather and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lexington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $251,006. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $83,012 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is Lexington County safe?
Lexington County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $453 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lexington County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 35. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lexington County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Chapin & Gilbert, Lexington, Columbia & Seven Oaks, and Red Bank. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lexington County good for families?
Schools beat 70% of counties, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Lexington County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lexington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lexington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lexington 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.
Lexington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lexington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lexington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lexington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lexington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lexington 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.