Best PlacesLexington, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lexington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lexington ranks 92nd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is walkability: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in Lexington
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.
Lexington's strengths and weaknesses
Lexington ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Quiet is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. Health care access and civic engagement follow.
The one real hole is walkability, near the bottom of the country. Biking and transit also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lexington ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of cities
Where Lexington ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lexington
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lexington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,808, 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's effective rate of 0.53%, 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
Lexington'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.
Who works in Lexington, and how
Work in Lexington centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lexington
Lexington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lexington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lexington, month by month
Lexington sees roughly 71 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
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 7 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
Schools across Lexington average a B+, better than 82% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Murray ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- New Providence ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Midway ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Meadow Glen MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Pleasant Hill MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Lakeside MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- River Bluff HighA− · 65% proficient
- Lexington HighA− · 65% proficient
- Brookland-cayce HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lexington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lexington 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 against the other 444 cities.
Who Lexington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lexington
Is Lexington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lexington ranks 92nd of 445 cities. It scores highest on quiet, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lexington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,946. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $100,808 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Lexington safe?
Yes, Lexington is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lexington?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 35. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of cities.
Is Lexington good for families?
Schools beat 82% of cities, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Lexington good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of cities. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lexington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lexington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lexington 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lexington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lexington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lexington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lexington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lexington 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.