Best PlacesMarlboro County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Marlboro County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Marlboro County ranks 3,093rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The cost of living against local pay pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Marlboro 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 Marlboro County
The parts of Marlboro 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.
McColl
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Bennettsville
More adults hold degrees, though it is noisier.
Wallace
Heat risk is lower, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Marlboro County run from about the 2nd to the 25th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Marlboro County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marlboro County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$519 a month, better than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of counties
- QuietBetter than 68% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 63% of counties
Where Marlboro County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$37,494 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Marlboro County
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marlboro County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $37,494, 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 Marlboro County'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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marlboro County
Marlboro 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 Marlboro County.
Who works in Marlboro County, and how
Work in Marlboro County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Marlboro County
Marlboro County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Marlboro County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Marlboro County growing, and who is moving in?
Marlboro County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Savannah, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Marlboro County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Marlboro County, month by month
Marlboro County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Marlboro County
The nearest airport, Florence Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marlboro County
Schools across Marlboro County average a C−, better than 22% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Latta ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Fairview Heights ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- East Rockingham ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamlet MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Carver MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Long MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Scotland Early College HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Richmond Early College HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Marlboro County HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marlboro County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marlboro 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 Marlboro County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Marlboro County suits
Common questions about living in Marlboro County
Is Marlboro County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marlboro County ranks 3,093rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and low property taxes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marlboro County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,220. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $37,494 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Marlboro County safe?
Marlboro County is safer than 1% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,152 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Marlboro County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 36. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Marlboro County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are McColl, Bennettsville, and Wallace. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Marlboro County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marlboro County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marlboro 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.
Marlboro County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marlboro County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marlboro County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marlboro County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marlboro County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marlboro 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.