Best PlacesPine Ridge, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pine Ridge, 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.
Pine Ridge ranks 19,599th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on fast internet, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pine Ridge
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.
Pine Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pine Ridge ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- BikingBetter than 77% of towns
Where Pine Ridge ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 29% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 35% of towns
- Cheap childcare$908 a month, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pine Ridge
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pine Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,892, 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 Pine Ridge'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 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 Pine Ridge
Pine Ridge'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 Pine Ridge.
Who works in Pine Ridge, and how
Work in Pine Ridge centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Pine Ridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pine Ridge.
What the weather is like in Pine Ridge, month by month
Pine Ridge sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Pine Ridge
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pine Ridge
Schools across Pine Ridge average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Congaree ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Herbert A. Wood ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- R. H. Fulmer MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Pine Ridge MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Airport HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pine Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pine Ridge 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 Pine Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pine Ridge
Is Pine Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pine Ridge ranks 19,599th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, short commutes, and cell coverage, and lowest on noise and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pine Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,152. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $76,892 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Pine Ridge safe?
Pine Ridge is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $411 per resident a year.
Compare Pine Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pine Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pine Ridge 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.
Pine Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pine Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pine Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pine Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pine Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pine Ridge 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.