Best PlacesSumter County, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sumter 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.
Sumter County ranks 2,429th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on crime and the weather. It does better on low property taxes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Sumter 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 Sumter County
The parts of Sumter 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.
Sumter
More adults hold degrees, streets are more walkable, and more residents vote.
Dalzell & Rembert
More households have young kids and heat risk is lower.
South Sumter
Health outcomes score lower and crime runs higher.
Scores across Sumter County run from about the 1st to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sumter County's strengths and weaknesses
Sumter County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low property taxes, a stable housing market, and transit are the strongest pieces, though none of them is exceptional.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: crime, the weather, and summer heat all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Sumter County ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 67% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 63% of counties
Where Sumter County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 24% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sumter County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sumter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,661, 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 Sumter County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sumter County
Sumter County'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 Sumter County.
Who works in Sumter County, and how
Work in Sumter County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sumter County
Sumter County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sumter County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sumter County growing, and who is moving in?
Sumter County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbia, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sumter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sumter County, month by month
Sumter County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, 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 | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Sumter County
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sumter County
Schools across Sumter County average a C−, better than 24% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Alice Drive ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Millwood ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- High Hills ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alice Drive MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Hillcrest MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Ebenezer MiddleC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Crestwood HighB− · 45% proficient
- Lakewood HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Sumter High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sumter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sumter 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 Sumter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sumter County suits
Common questions about living in Sumter County
Is Sumter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sumter County ranks 2,429th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, a stable housing market, and transit, and lowest on crime and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sumter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,270. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $63,661 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Sumter County safe?
Sumter County is safer than 10% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $774 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sumter County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 35. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sumter County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sumter, Dalzell & Rembert, and South Sumter. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sumter County good for families?
Schools beat 24% of counties, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $908 a month.
Is Sumter County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 29% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 29% of counties. About 6% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sumter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sumter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sumter 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.
Sumter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sumter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sumter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sumter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sumter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sumter 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.