Cheapest Places To Live In South Carolina For 2020

The 10 Cheapest Places To Live In South Carolina For 2020

1. Fountain Inn

It's not very often that you find a deal as sweet as South Carolina's most affordable city, Fountain Inn. Located slightly southeast of Greenville, "The Diamond Tip of the Golden Strip" is the second most affordable place in South Carolina to buy or rent a home.

Not to mention, with Anderson and Spartanburg also in Fountain Inn's backyard, it's a great place to live if you want quiet, small town living with affordable shopping and entertainment close by.

The median household income in Fountain Inn comes in at $62,904 and the median home value is $147,200 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 11.2%.

2. Laurens

Have you heard? Laurens is South Carolina's second most affordable city and the "Gateway to the Upstate" shows no signs of slowing down.

Laurens moved up four places from last year due to its fifth best place to buy a home based on the city's median income ranking. The amenities in Laurens are also not too shabby. Yes, if you haven't spent the day exploring the Laurens Historic District or taken in their Riverfront Freedom Festival then you have some work to do.

The median household income in Laurens comes in at $36,228 and the median home value is $90,800 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.2%.

3. Marion

If you're looking to save a buck or two, South Carolina's third cheapest place to live, Marion, will help you do just that.

The city "Where History and Hospitality Greets You" should maybe change its motto to "Somewhere in the Middle" because it is currently the 22nd best place to buy a home based on income as well as the 15th most affordable place to rent. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, you only need to make $34,561/year to keep up with Marion's cost of living.

The median household income in Marion comes in at $34,561 and the median home value is $104,000 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 20.5%.

4. Mauldin

What do 25009 Mauldin residents know that we don't? Well, besides the fact that they currently get a pretty good bang for their buck, they are South Carolina's fourth most affordable place to live; and economically speaking, that frees up a lot of their money for fun.

So, if you've ever passed by the McDonald's on W. Butler Rd and wondered why there were so many people with the 'big' shake, it's because they make $65,737/year and they only had to spend $157,400 on a home. Sorry, Mauldin, your secret is out.

The median household income in Mauldin comes in at $65,737 and the median home value is $157,400 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.8%.

5. Irmo

Moving up the ranks to solidify South Carolina's fifth least expensive city, "The Gateway to Tree City USA," Irmo, must be made of money trees because this city has made life super affordable.

Located on the banks of Lake Murray, Irma, shows us that you can have the best of everything: a great lake life on a budget and affordable housing as this city is the best place to buy a home based on income. The catch? You're going to have to make at least $63,713/year.

The median household income in Irmo comes in at $63,713 and the median home value is $124,900 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 6.8%.

We can't believe that Batesburg-Leesburg made The Palmetto State's cheapest places to live list as the sixth most affordable city. This city has five star dining and posh shopping, and still, it's the eighth most affordable place to buy a home based on median income data.

So, if you want to know where to steal the best deal in South Carolina, The Twin Cities are like a ripe Peaches N Such peach just waiting to be picked.

The median household income in Batesburg-Leesville comes in at $45,294 and the median home value is $118,400 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 9.8%.

7. Bennettsville

No, not everything is free in the 843, but it is super affordable-like, the seventh cheapest place to live in South Carolina affordable. But, that's not all that makes this city of 8308 residents from Marlboro County so great. Bennettsville shines because the median income here is $30,008 and the median home price is only $81,900.

And, folks, it doesn't hurt that this South Carolina gem is also located on the Great Peed Dee River.

The median household income in Bennettsville comes in at $30,008 and the median home value is $81,900 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 13.3%.

8. Simpsonville

This "Character Protected, Community Perfected" city has made buying a home affordable, education and safety a priority, and its 21423 residents employed.

Kemet, Milliken, and Pare-Chem are three companies in Simpsonville that are helping to keep the economy in South Carolina's eighth most affordable place to live moving; and take from us, it's paying off. We think that buying your forever home in Simpsonville is a smart choice.

The median household income in Simpsonville comes in at $67,456 and the median home value is $164,100 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 4.0%.

9. North Augusta

Located on the north bank of the Savannah River, North Augusta is not only the ninth most affordable city in South Carolina, it is the epitome of southern hospitality with a pinch of southern charm. The best part of this deal, you won't have to win the South Carolina lottery to get your hands on home in North Augusta because "The Riverfront" is the 14th best place to buy a home based on the city's median income.

The median household income in North Augusta comes in at $56,811 and the median home value is $157,800 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 7.0%.

10. Cayce

Great things are happening in South Carolina's tenth most affordable place to live, Cayce. For one, the median income in this city is $50,545/year-this has earned Cayce the sixth best place to buy a home that won't break your bank.

If you want to surround yourself with great people, lots to do, and a low cost of living to boot, then you should definitely consider "A New Kind of City."

The median household income in Cayce comes in at $50,545 and the median home value is $127,400 for 2020. The unemployment rate sits at 5.9%.

How We Determined The Most Affordable Places To Live In The Palmetto State For 2020

The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

1. How much do money do I make?
2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2014-2018 around incomes and costs. They are:

• Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
• Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
• Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in South Carolina to figure out which is the least expensive.

What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 64 places in South Carolina that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the lowest cost of living in South Carolina according to the data is Fountain Inn. You can download the data here.