Best PlacesOrangeburg, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orangeburg, 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.
Orangeburg ranks 2,088th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Orangeburg
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.
Orangeburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orangeburg ranks high
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 70% of cities
Where Orangeburg ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Household income$52,811 median, better than only 2% of cities
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Orangeburg
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orangeburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,811, 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 Orangeburg's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Orangeburg
Orangeburg'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 Orangeburg.
Who works in Orangeburg, and how
Work in Orangeburg centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Orangeburg
Orangeburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Orangeburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Orangeburg, month by month
Orangeburg sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Orangeburg
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Orangeburg
Schools across Orangeburg average a D−, better than 4% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sandy Run SchoolC · 35% proficient
- St. Matthews K-8 SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- A. L. Corbett MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Calhoun County HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orangeburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orangeburg 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 Orangeburg against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Orangeburg suits
Common questions about living in Orangeburg
Is Orangeburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orangeburg ranks 2,088th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on crime and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orangeburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,886. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $52,811 median income, cost of living beats 6% of cities.
Is Orangeburg safe?
Orangeburg is safer than 0% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,461 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Orangeburg?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 37. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Orangeburg good for families?
Schools beat 4% of cities, crime safety beats 0%, and childcare runs $552 a month.
Compare Orangeburg with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orangeburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orangeburg 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.
Orangeburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orangeburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orangeburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orangeburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orangeburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orangeburg 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.