Best PlacesPickens County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pickens County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pickens County ranks 1,203rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on fast internet and low property taxes. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, childcare costs, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Pickens County
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.
The best areas in Pickens County
The parts of Pickens County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Clemson & Central
More adults hold degrees, biking is better, and health outcomes score higher.
Six Mile
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Pickens
More households have young kids and tree cover is thicker.
Easley
Scores close to Pickens, except that prices have run up more here.
Liberty
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Scores across Pickens County run from about the 15th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Pickens County's strengths and weaknesses
Pickens County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Fast internet, low property taxes, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, childcare costs, and the weather hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Pickens County to another than it does between Pickens County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Pickens County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of counties
Where Pickens County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 27% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 77 pleasant days a year, better than only 33% of counties
- Short commute26.4 minutes each way, better than only 34% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 39% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pickens County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pickens County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,859; 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 Pickens County's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pickens County
Pickens County'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 Pickens County.
Who works in Pickens County, and how
Work in Pickens County centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Pickens County
Pickens County has more late-night spots per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Pickens County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pickens County growing, and who is moving in?
Pickens County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Greenville, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pickens County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pickens County, month by month
Pickens County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 31° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Pickens County
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pickens County
Schools across Pickens County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Clemson ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Powdersville ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Ambler ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Youth Leadership AcademyA+ · 70% proficient
- Wren MiddleA · 64% proficient
- R. C. Edwards MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- D. W. Daniel HighA · 76% proficient
- Pendleton HighA · 71% proficient
- Powdersville HighA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pickens County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pickens County 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 Pickens County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pickens County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Pickens County
Is Pickens County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pickens County ranks 1,203rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, low property taxes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pickens County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,982. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $64,859 median income, cost of living beats 39% of counties.
Is Pickens County safe?
Pickens County is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pickens County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 31. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Pickens County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Clemson & Central, Six Mile, and Pickens. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Pickens County good for families?
Schools beat 84% of counties, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Pickens County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 39% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Pickens County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pickens County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pickens County 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.
Pickens County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pickens County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pickens County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pickens County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pickens County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pickens County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.