Best PlacesWhetstone, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whetstone, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Whetstone ranks 34,241st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Whetstone
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.
Whetstone's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whetstone ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$552 a month, better than 87% of towns
- Short commute22.1 minutes each way, better than 79% of towns
Where Whetstone ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Household income$46,818 median, better than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Whetstone
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whetstone home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $46,818, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Whetstone's effective rate of 0.75%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whetstone
Whetstone runs older 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 Whetstone.
Who works in Whetstone, and how
Work in Whetstone centers on hospitality & food and utilities. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Whetstone
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Whetstone.
What the weather is like in Whetstone, month by month
Whetstone sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Whetstone
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whetstone
Schools across Whetstone average a B−, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Westminster ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- James M. Brown ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walhalla MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- West Oak MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- West-oak HighA · 70% proficient
- Walhalla HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whetstone school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whetstone 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 Whetstone against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Whetstone
Is Whetstone a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whetstone ranks 34,241st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whetstone expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,484. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $46,818 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Whetstone safe?
Whetstone is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $441 per resident a year.
Compare Whetstone with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whetstone. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whetstone 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.
Whetstone detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whetstone: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whetstone: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whetstone: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whetstone: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whetstone 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.