Best PlacesZion, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Zion, 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.
Zion ranks 48,721st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Zion
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.
Zion's strengths and weaknesses
Where Zion ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$521 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 62% of towns
Where Zion ranks low
- Household income$41,051 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Zion
A household needs to earn about $13,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Zion home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $41,051, 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 Zion's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Zion
Zion runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Zion.
Who works in Zion, and how
Work in Zion centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Zion
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Zion.
What the weather is like in Zion, month by month
Zion sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Zion
The nearest airport, Florence Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Zion
Schools across Zion average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Latta ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Marion IntermediateD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Latta MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Palmetto MiddleD− · 15% proficient
- Johnakin MiddleF · 3% proficient
Top high schools
- Latta HighB− · 45% proficient
- Mullins HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Marion HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Zion school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Zion 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 Zion against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Zion
Is Zion a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Zion ranks 48,721st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Zion expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $50,691. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $41,051 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Zion safe?
Zion is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $894 per resident a year.
Compare Zion with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Zion. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Zion 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.
Zion detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Zion: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Zion: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Zion: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Zion: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Zion 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.