Best PlacesRichland County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Richland County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Richland County ranks 1,405th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on crime and noise. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Richland 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 Richland County
The parts of Richland 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.
Irmo & Chapin
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and prices have run up less.
Columbia
Fewer homes sit empty and crime runs lower.
Forest Acres
Transit reaches more jobs, though heat risk is higher.
Blythewood & Dentsville
It is noisier and streets are more car-dependent.
Woodfield
Fewer residents vote and fewer adults hold degrees.
Hopkins & Eastover
Incomes run lower and schools score lower.
St. Andrews
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
Richland County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Richland County's strengths and weaknesses
Richland County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit, an educated workforce, and cell coverage carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Crime, noise, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Richland County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of counties
Where Richland County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cheap childcare$923 a month, better than only 25% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Richland County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,536, 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 Richland County's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Richland County
Richland County runs younger 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 Richland County.
Who works in Richland County, and how
Work in Richland County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Richland County
Richland County has more late-night spots per resident than 86% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Richland County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Richland County growing, and who is moving in?
Richland County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Columbia, SC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Richland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Richland County, month by month
Richland County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 80° | 66° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 81° | 67° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Richland County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richland County
Schools across Richland County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brockman ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Lake Murray ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Satchel Ford ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crayton MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Blythewood MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Kelly Mill MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Spring Hill HighA+ · 83% proficient
- Chapin HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Sc Whitmore SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richland 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 Richland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Richland County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Richland County
Is Richland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richland County ranks 1,405th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, an educated workforce, and cell coverage, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,573. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,536 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Richland County safe?
Richland County is safer than 6% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $836 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Richland County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 36. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Richland County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Irmo & Chapin, Columbia, and Forest Acres. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Richland County good for families?
Schools beat 64% of counties, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $923 a month.
Is Richland County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 83% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Richland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richland 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.
Richland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richland 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.