Best PlacesSummerville, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Summerville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Summerville ranks 240th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is disaster risk: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in Summerville
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 Summerville
The parts of Summerville, 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.
Tramway, Springlake Village & Sangaree Gardens
Crime runs lower and prices have run up less.
White Gables
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Weatherstone
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Mendenhall & Traders Station
Schools score lower.
Summerville shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Summerville's strengths and weaknesses
Summerville lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Quiet is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. Tree cover and a strong job market follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. Walkability and biking also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Summerville ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 88% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of cities
Where Summerville ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute31.8 minutes each way, better than only 11% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Summerville
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Summerville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,925, 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 Summerville's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 Summerville
Summerville runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Summerville.
Who works in Summerville, and how
Work in Summerville 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 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Summerville
Summerville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. The coast is about 37 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Summerville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Summerville, month by month
Summerville sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Summerville
Charleston AFB/International sits about 11 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.2 million passengers in 2025, with 95 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Summerville
Schools across Summerville average a B+, better than 87% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Beech Hill ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Montessori Community SchoolA · 70% proficient
- William M. Reeves ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rollings Middle School Of The ArtsA+ · 78% proficient
- Westview MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Alston MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashley Ridge HighA · 78% proficient
- Summerville HighA · 73% proficient
- Fort Dorchester HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Summerville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Summerville 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 Summerville against the other 444 cities.
Who Summerville suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Summerville
Is Summerville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Summerville ranks 240th of 445 cities. It scores highest on quiet, tree cover, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Summerville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,268. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $88,925 median income, cost of living beats 79% of cities.
Is Summerville safe?
Yes, Summerville is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $374 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Summerville?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 40. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Summerville?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Tramway, Springlake Village & Sangaree Gardens, White Gables, and Weatherstone. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Summerville good for families?
Schools beat 87% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $909 a month.
Is Summerville good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 49% of cities. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Summerville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Summerville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Summerville 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.
Summerville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Summerville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Summerville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Summerville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Summerville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Summerville 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.