Best PlacesUnity, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Unity, 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.
Unity ranks 23,146th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Unity
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.
Unity's strengths and weaknesses
Where Unity ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
Where Unity ranks low
- Short commute37.6 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$954 a month, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Unity
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Unity home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,813, 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 Unity's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Unity
Unity'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 Unity.
Who works in Unity, and how
Work in Unity centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Unity
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Unity.
What the weather is like in Unity, month by month
Unity sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Unity
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 31 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 Unity
Schools across Unity average a C−, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Buford ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- North ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Buford MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- A. R. Rucker MiddleD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Buford HighB · 50% proficient
- Lancaster HighC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Unity school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Unity 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 Unity against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Unity
Is Unity a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Unity ranks 23,146th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, few empty homes, and a strong job market, and lowest on long commutes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Unity expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,800. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,813 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Unity safe?
Yes, Unity is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
Compare Unity with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Unity. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Unity 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.
Unity detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Unity: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Unity: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Unity: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Unity: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Unity 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.