Columbia, the state capital · Photo: Akhenaton06 · CC BY-SA 3.0How South Carolina stacks up
In South Carolina, next to North Carolina and Georgia, it has the best cost of living and home ownership and the weakest safety and schools. The good news is fast growth (+11% from 2010 to 2020) and the 6th lowest property-tax bills in the country; the bad news, test scores 20th lowest on the Nation’s Report Card. The sum of it: a B and a score of 58, 22nd of 51.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
32nd of 51C+38/100 More crime than the typical state. County or state police cover much of it, so town crime figures reach only 74% of residents. At 389 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, South Carolina sits 14th highest among the states. Columbia and North Charleston weigh on the town measure; 52% of residents live in bottom-quarter places.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 15th highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 37 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 74% of residents of South Carolina’s 10,000+ towns.
Where most people live, crime runs higher
At the safe end sit Tega Cay (#363), Fort Mill (#379) and Bluffton (#722) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+. The quarter reporting the most crime per resident takes in Rock Hill, Greenville and Sumter.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| South Carolina | 6% | 52% |
Many places go uncounted
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 74% of the people in South Carolina’s towns of 10,000+. Four towns have too few years reported, among them Summerville, Spartanburg and North Augusta. Hilton Head Island, Carolina Forest and Taylors are among 23 places that report no crime of their own; county or state police patrol them, and their crimes aren’t counted by town. Among its neighbors, North Carolina counts the most (93%) and Georgia the least (69%).
Schools
36th of 51C30/100 Test scores slightly under the national middle. South Carolina’s students rank 20th lowest on the Nation’s Report Card: 31% reach Proficient. North Carolina and Georgia all do better on schools. 4% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 28% in a bottom-quarter one; Fort Mill ranks highest.
Graduation: 83.8% finish high school on time (class of 2023), 17th lowest. The grade weighs test results and graduation equally.
Per-pupil spending, $15,090 (20th lowest), is shown for context and not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
9th of 51A−84/100 Affordable, town after town. It leads its neighbors on affordability, ahead of North Carolina. The typical homeowner pays $1,251 a year in property tax, about half the national figure. 25% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 4% in a bottom-quarter one; York ranks highest.
A typical home costs 3.7 years of median household income, 22nd lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
30th of 51C+42/100 Health a notch below average. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Mount Pleasant its best at #206 of 5,218. CDC estimates put 20% of adults in fair or poor health, the 17th highest share among the states.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
9th of 51A−84/100 Ownership above most states. South Carolina ranks 9th highest for home ownership, at 72% of homes. Its larger places pull the town measure down: Charleston and Columbia sit in the national bottom quarter. No neighbor beats it on home ownership; North Carolina comes closest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
38th of 51C26/100 Higher hazard risk than most states. 45% of residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Charleston and North Charleston. Hurricanes drive 48% of the $201 a year FEMA expects natural hazards to cost per $100,000 of buildings (6th highest). North Carolina and Georgia all do better on hazard risk.
The federal government declared eleven major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (24th fewest).
What drives it: hurricane 48%, inland flooding 33%, earthquake 10% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
30th of 51C+42/100 Commutes a bit longer than average. Commutes stretch longest from Summerville. South Carolina workers average 25.6 minutes to work, against 26.4 nationally. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Port Royal its best at #96 of 5,235.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 64 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
8th of 51A86/100 Growing faster than most. Among its neighbors it does best on growth, with North Carolina second. The population grew 10.7% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, against 7.4% nationally (11th fastest). 58% of residents live in a top-quarter town; Hardeeville ranks highest, at #26.
Building: 9.4 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 3rd most.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 61 South Carolina towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How South Carolina compares to its neighbors
Against North Carolina and Georgia, South Carolina leads on cost of living, housing and growth but trails on safety, schools and natural hazards.
| South Carolina | North Carolina | Georgia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B 5822nd of 51 | C+ 3633rd of 51 | C+ 3832nd of 51 |
| Safety | C+ 3838th official · 6% in top towns | C+ 4230th official · 5% in top towns | B 5627th official · 9% in top towns |
| Schools | C 3032nd official · 4% in top towns | C 3419th official · 2% in top towns | C+ 3831st official · 6% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A− 846th official · 25% in top towns | B 5615th official · 8% in top towns | B− 5220th official · 11% in top towns |
| Health | C+ 4235th official · 19% in top towns | B 5830th official · 25% in top towns | C+ 4036th official · 17% in top towns |
| Housing | A− 849th official · 10% in top towns | C− 2233rd official · 5% in top towns | C− 1839th official · 5% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | C 2646th official · 8% in top towns | C+ 3634th official · 3% in top towns | A− 7615th official · 41% in top towns |
| Commute | C+ 4230th official · 33% in top towns | C+ 4425th official · 23% in top towns | C− 2245th official · 20% in top towns |
| Growth | A 8611th official · 58% in top towns | A− 8016th official · 59% in top towns | B+ 7413th official · 47% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work