Best PlacesMartin, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Martin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Martin ranks 49,958th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Martin
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.
Martin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Martin ranks high
- Cheap childcare$513 a month, better than 91% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
Where Martin ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$30,352 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Martin
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Martin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $30,352, 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 Martin'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 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 Martin
Martin runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Martin.
Who works in Martin, and how
Work in Martin centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Martin
Martin has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Martin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Martin, month by month
Martin sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Martin
The nearest airport, Augusta Regional at Bush Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Martin
Schools across Martin average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Redcliffe ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Barnwell PrimaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Allendale-fairfax ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barnwell ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Jackson Stem MagnetC− · 30% proficient
- Allendale-fairfax MiddleF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Silver Bluff HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Barnwell HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Allendale Fairfax HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Martin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Martin 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 Martin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Martin
Is Martin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Martin ranks 49,958th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on crime and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Martin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $84,077. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $30,352 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Martin safe?
Martin is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,902 per resident a year.
Compare Martin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Martin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Martin 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.
Martin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Martin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Martin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Martin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Martin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Martin 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.