Best PlacesPerry, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Perry, 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.
Perry ranks 42,440th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Perry
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.
Perry's strengths and weaknesses
Where Perry ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 72% of towns
Where Perry ranks low
- Household income$41,990 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Perry
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Perry home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $41,990, 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 Perry'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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Perry
Perry 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 Perry.
Who works in Perry, and how
Work in Perry centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Perry
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Perry.
What the weather is like in Perry, month by month
Perry sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Perry
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Perry
Schools across Perry average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cyril B. Busbee ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- A. L. Corbett MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Wagener-sally HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Perry school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Perry 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 Perry against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Perry
Is Perry a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Perry ranks 42,440th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, a stable housing market, and quiet, and lowest on low incomes 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 Perry expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,574. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $41,990 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Perry safe?
Perry is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $602 per resident a year.
Compare Perry with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Perry. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Perry 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.
Perry detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Perry: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Perry: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Perry: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Perry: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Perry 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.