Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is South Carolina a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in South Carolina.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Palmetto State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of South Carolina, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 46 counties in the state.
Beaufort County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in South Carolina. And you should avoid Marlboro County if you can — at least according to the data.
$86,573 median income · 2.6% unemployment
$89,095 median income · 4.1% unemployment
$88,494 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$84,358 median income · 3.2% unemployment
$78,869 median income · 4.3% unemployment
$77,408 median income · 4.5% unemployment
$76,932 median income · 4.4% unemployment
$68,713 median income · 4.4% unemployment
$78,198 median income · 4.9% unemployment
$68,231 median income · 4.7% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is South Carolina’s statewide median.
South Carolina statewide median: $69,324
South Carolina statewide median: $304,083
South Carolina statewide median: 4.9%
On the map
Where South Carolina’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which South Carolina county is the best?
To give you the best county in South Carolina, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in South Carolina across each of the criteria from one to 46, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In South Carolina.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Palmetto State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in South Carolina.
Read on to see why Beaufort County is the best county, while Marlboro County is probably in contention for being the worst county in South Carolina.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In South Carolina
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beaufort County | 195,289 | $86,573 | $546,770 |
| 2 | York County | 293,673 | $89,095 | $389,727 |
| 3 | Charleston County | 420,264 | $88,494 | $611,188 |
| 4 | Berkeley County | 246,802 | $84,358 | $368,748 |
| 5 | Lancaster County | 104,475 | $78,869 | $391,457 |
| 6 | Lexington County | 304,887 | $77,408 | $271,339 |
| 6 | Greenville County | 548,166 | $76,932 | $336,411 |
| 8 | Georgetown County | 64,811 | $68,713 | $384,130 |
| 9 | Dorchester County | 167,201 | $78,198 | $345,663 |
| 10 | Kershaw County | 68,314 | $68,231 | $251,652 |
| 11 | Pickens County | 134,629 | $61,064 | $299,970 |
| 12 | Aiken County | 174,160 | $70,609 | $234,751 |
| 13 | Horry County | 383,016 | $66,880 | $316,676 |
| 14 | McCormick County | 9,760 | $55,798 | $322,811 |
| 15 | Spartanburg County | 347,852 | $66,234 | $276,790 |
| 16 | Richland County | 422,117 | $63,784 | $243,519 |
| 17 | Newberry County | 38,435 | $61,780 | $219,121 |
| 18 | Calhoun County | 14,182 | $58,682 | $211,151 |
| 18 | Anderson County | 210,478 | $66,651 | $290,746 |
| 20 | Jasper County | 32,166 | $65,613 | $401,192 |
| 21 | Abbeville County | 24,420 | $52,935 | $203,731 |
| 21 | Greenwood County | 69,489 | $52,830 | $170,949 |
| 23 | Edgefield County | 27,476 | $73,029 | $267,375 |
| 24 | Fairfield County | 20,550 | $47,885 | $188,559 |
| 25 | Oconee County | 80,469 | $62,388 | $287,576 |
| 26 | Sumter County | 104,725 | $56,693 | $213,439 |
| 27 | Florence County | 137,117 | $58,305 | $200,491 |
| 28 | Clarendon County | 30,986 | $52,401 | $183,163 |
| 28 | Laurens County | 68,666 | $57,623 | $198,929 |
| 30 | Saluda County | 19,131 | $51,009 | $211,298 |
| 31 | Chester County | 32,182 | $52,458 | $212,488 |
| 32 | Darlington County | 62,558 | $48,581 | $165,455 |
| 33 | Cherokee County | 56,647 | $50,288 | $186,421 |
| 34 | Williamsburg County | 30,282 | $46,213 | $130,757 |
| 35 | Colleton County | 38,783 | $51,114 | $251,055 |
| 36 | Orangeburg County | 83,253 | $45,675 | $160,249 |
| 36 | Chesterfield County | 43,784 | $49,235 | $173,789 |
| 38 | Hampton County | 18,254 | $44,711 | $152,974 |
| 39 | Lee County | 16,166 | $44,760 | $134,515 |
| 40 | Barnwell County | 20,521 | $46,626 | $149,829 |
| 41 | Union County | 26,885 | $41,621 | $129,393 |
| 42 | Marion County | 28,664 | $36,301 | $137,378 |
| 43 | Dillon County | 27,862 | $46,605 | $109,966 |
| 44 | Bamberg County | 13,042 | $44,370 | $127,290 |
| 45 | Allendale County | 7,661 | $32,328 | $71,542 |
| 46 | Marlboro County | 25,975 | $34,301 | $83,302 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 46 South Carolina counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In South Carolina To Call Home For 2026
Living in South Carolina can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in South Carolina are Beaufort County, York County, Charleston County, Berkeley County, Lancaster County, Lexington County, Greenville County, Georgetown County, Dorchester County, and Kershaw County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
