Lake WylieSC
A town of 16,006.
Is Lake Wylie a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Lake Wylie grades A− overall, 17th of 167 graded towns in South Carolina. Its schools rank ahead of 98% of South Carolina towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 82% of the country. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $486K, 5.8 years of the Charlotte metro’s $83K median household income. Among 169 South Carolina towns, just 5 have a lower January low than Lake Wylie.
What makes Lake Wylie stand out
Where Lake Wylie beats most towns.
Lake Wylie has grown 55% from 2010 to 2020
8,841 counted in 2010 and 13,655 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Lake Wylie grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Lake Wylie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Carowinds and 18 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Wylie. Close and well known come first.
7 mi Theme parkCarowinds
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaBank of America Stadium11 mi MuseumSullenberger Aviation Museum70K visitors a year
28 mi LakeLake Norman
17 mi Stadium & arenaBojangles Coliseum
11 mi MuseumBilly Graham LibraryPhoto credits
Carowinds: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bank of America Stadium: HangingCurve, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bojangles Coliseum: James Willamor, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Billy Graham Library: Billy Hathorn, CC BY 3.0
Moving to Lake Wylie: who provides what
Lake Wylie is unincorporated, so York County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Wylie.
Lake Wylie sends many workers across the state line to Gastonia, has less tooth loss than most of South Carolina and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of South Carolina.
For health, Lake Wylie earns an A−
Its widest gap with South Carolina is tooth loss: 6.4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 13.9% statewide. Against the 6,848 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Wylie’s, it is healthier than 66%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Lake Wylie: one in ten adults worry about having enough food, where South Carolina’s towns sit at 21% and U.S. towns at 14%. The share of adults in Lake Wylie who feel lonely: 28%. In Lake Wylie, 12% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 10% smoke cigarettes.
| Lake Wylie | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 15% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Lake Wylie | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.4% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.4% | 17.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Lake Wylie’s workers commute out: the town has 0.3 jobs for each of them
35% of working residents cross a state line to work, Gastonia among the top destinations. Jobs based here grew from 1,275 in 2013 to 2,232.
Lake Wylie: 21% of workers work from home, above both South Carolina’s towns (8.6%) and U.S. towns (11%). Commuting out is the norm here: 5% of working residents work locally. It had 2,232 jobs in 2023, up 957 from 2013. The typical household income for Lake Wylie comes to $112,000.
| Lake Wylie | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 8.6% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $112,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.1% | 17% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lake Wylie has mild winters and hot summers
January nights average 30.9°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 95% of South Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 90.4°.
It almost never snows. Lake Wylie’s typical July afternoon high is 90°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest natural risk in Lake Wylie is inland flooding, at a moderate overall level
Of the losses FEMA expects in Lake Wylie, 64% come from inland flooding and 20% from tornadoes. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage here than in 57% of U.S. communities. One declared disaster, in 2024, has brought federal aid to Lake Wylie households.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Protected land: 0.1% of Lake Wylie
Just 7 of its 6,774 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Lake Wylie itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.5 miles of trail.
| Lake Wylie | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Lake Wylie sell for about $495K
74.2% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 52.1% across South Carolina. The median property tax bill is $1,970, against $1,251 across South Carolina, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Only 9 of the 166 South Carolina towns we compare have a higher typical rent than Lake Wylie. 81% of Lake Wylie households are owner-occupiers. Also worth knowing: a home in Lake Wylie typically sold within 49 days of listing.
| Lake Wylie | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,710 a month | $1,058 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 81% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Lake Wylie
Colleges nearby
7 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Wylie
About 4 of every 100 Lake Wylie residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
95% of working residents leave Lake Wylie for work
Where Lake Wylie’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Lake Wylie
CDP in South Carolina, United States
Lake Wylie is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,841 at the 2010 census. Lake Wylie is located on a peninsula along the shore of Lake Wylie, a reservoir that was named for Dr. W. Gil Wylie in 1960. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 11 sq mi
- Elevation
- 600 ft
Questions about Lake Wylie
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Wylie, SC a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Lake Wylie grades A− overall, better than 81% of U.S. towns and #17 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades A− for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Lake Wylie, SC expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $486,000, 60% above the South Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.