Best PlacesRock Hill, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rock Hill, 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.
Rock Hill ranks 184th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on tree cover and low property taxes. The weaker spots are biking, cell coverage, and transit.
The best neighborhoods in Rock Hill
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 Rock Hill
The parts of Rock Hill, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Northwestern Rock Hill
Local pay stretches further, prices have run up less, and fewer homes sit empty.
Catawba Terrace
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Eastview & Boyd Hill
It is quieter and crime runs lower.
Southeastern Rock Hill
Tree cover is thicker, though streets are more car-dependent.
Southwestern Rock Hill
Commutes are longer and biking is worse.
Eastern Rock Hill
Homes cost more.
Oakwood Acres
Fewer residents vote.
East Town & Country Club Estates
Incomes run lower and health care is harder to reach.
Winthrop University, Laurelwood & Confederate Park
Rock Hill shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 5%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Rock Hill's strengths and weaknesses
Rock Hill lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Tree cover, low property taxes, and quiet carry most of that.
The one real hole is biking, near the bottom of the country. Cell coverage and transit also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Rock Hill ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of cities
- QuietBetter than 88% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of cities
Where Rock Hill ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 14% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Rock Hill
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rock Hill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,344, 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 Rock Hill's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rock Hill
Rock Hill's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Rock Hill.
Who works in Rock Hill, and how
Work in Rock Hill centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Rock Hill
Rock Hill has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rock Hill and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rock Hill, month by month
Rock Hill sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 42° | 30° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 47° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Rock Hill
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Rock Hill
Schools across Rock Hill average a B−, better than 68% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Riverview ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Cherry Park Elementary School Of Language ImmersionA · 65% proficient
- Bethel ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Banks Trail MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Oakridge MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Dutchman Creek MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Fort Mill HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Clover HighA · 73% proficient
- Lewisville HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rock Hill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rock Hill 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 Rock Hill against the other 444 cities.
Who Rock Hill suits
Common questions about living in Rock Hill
Is Rock Hill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rock Hill ranks 184th of 445 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and quiet, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rock Hill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $304,851. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $83,344 median income, cost of living beats 69% of cities.
Is Rock Hill safe?
Yes, Rock Hill is safer than 76% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $405 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rock Hill?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 30. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rock Hill?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northwestern Rock Hill, Catawba Terrace, and Eastview & Boyd Hill. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rock Hill good for families?
Schools beat 68% of cities, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Rock Hill good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 69% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 34% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rock Hill with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rock Hill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rock Hill 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.
Rock Hill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rock Hill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rock Hill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rock Hill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rock Hill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rock Hill 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.