Best PlacesPiedmont, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Piedmont, 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.
Piedmont ranks 1,301st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Piedmont
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.
Piedmont's strengths and weaknesses
Where Piedmont ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 86% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 71% of cities
Where Piedmont ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Piedmont
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Piedmont home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,141, 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 Piedmont's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Piedmont
Piedmont'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 Piedmont.
Who works in Piedmont, and how
Work in Piedmont centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Piedmont
Piedmont has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Piedmont and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Piedmont, month by month
Piedmont sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 73° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Piedmont
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Piedmont
Schools across Piedmont average a B+, better than 71% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Wren ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Powdersville ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Spearman ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wren MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Powdersville MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Palmetto MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Powdersville HighA · 71% proficient
- Wren HighA− · 65% proficient
- Palmetto HighA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Piedmont school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Piedmont 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 Piedmont against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Piedmont suits
Common questions about living in Piedmont
Is Piedmont a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Piedmont ranks 1,301st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low property taxes, tree cover, and a strong job market, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Piedmont expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,916. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $72,141 median income, cost of living beats 44% of cities.
Is Piedmont safe?
Piedmont is safer than 38% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Piedmont?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 35. That works out to about 87 pleasant days a year, more than 51% of cities.
Is Piedmont good for families?
Schools beat 71% of cities, crime safety beats 38%, and childcare runs $916 a month.
Compare Piedmont with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Piedmont. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Piedmont 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.
Piedmont detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Piedmont: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Piedmont: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Piedmont: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Piedmont: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Piedmont 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.