Best PlacesNorth Charleston, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Charleston, 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.
North Charleston ranks 427th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. It does better on low property taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in North Charleston
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.
North Charleston's strengths and weaknesses
North Charleston ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low property taxes, tree cover, and state infrastructure are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and crime all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where North Charleston ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 70% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 67% of cities
- Cheap childcare$919 a month, better than 64% of cities
Where North Charleston ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Household income$68,297 median, better than only 15% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in North Charleston
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Charleston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,297; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 North Charleston's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Charleston
North Charleston runs younger 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 North Charleston.
Who works in North Charleston, and how
Work in North Charleston 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 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in North Charleston
North Charleston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 22 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Charleston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Charleston, month by month
North Charleston sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 69° | 58° |
Flying in and out of North Charleston
Charleston AFB/International sits about 0 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around North Charleston
Schools across North Charleston average a C, better than 39% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Daniel Island SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Beech Hill ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rollings Middle School Of The ArtsA+ · 78% proficient
- Westview MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Hanahan MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Academic Magnet HighA+ · 98% proficient
- Charleston School Of The ArtsA+ · 81% proficient
- Ashley Ridge HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Charleston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Charleston 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 North Charleston against the other 444 cities.
Who North Charleston suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in North Charleston
Is North Charleston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Charleston ranks 427th of 445 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and state infrastructure, 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 North Charleston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,820. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $68,297 median income, cost of living beats 31% of cities.
Is North Charleston safe?
North Charleston is safer than 10% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $816 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Charleston?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 64 with lows near 38. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of cities.
Is North Charleston good for families?
Schools beat 39% of cities, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Is North Charleston good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 31% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 35% of cities. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare North Charleston with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Charleston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Charleston 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.
North Charleston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Charleston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Charleston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Charleston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Charleston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Charleston 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.