Best PlacesOlympia, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olympia, 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.
Olympia ranks 47,823rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Olympia
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.
Olympia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olympia ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
Where Olympia ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
Who lives in Olympia
Olympia runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Olympia.
Who works in Olympia, and how
Work in Olympia centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Olympia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Olympia.
What the weather is like in Olympia, month by month
Olympia sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Olympia
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olympia
Schools across Olympia average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- A. C. Moore ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Cayce ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cyril B. Busbee Creative Arts AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Hand MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Dreher HighA− · 61% proficient
- Brookland-cayce HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olympia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olympia 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 Olympia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olympia
Is Olympia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olympia ranks 47,823rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, biking, and cell coverage, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olympia safe?
Olympia is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,060 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Olympia?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 36. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of towns.
Compare Olympia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olympia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olympia 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.
Olympia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olympia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olympia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olympia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olympia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olympia 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.
- 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.