South Carolina cities

The best places to live in South Carolina

South Carolina's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Fort Mill leads the list.

We scored South Carolina's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
4 Goose Creek $218,100 $1,379 81 76
8 Mount Pleasant $499,600 $1,813 55 70
12 Charleston $369,500 $1,400 47 69
19 Summerville $229,800 $1,231 49 46
20 Florence $159,800 $796 50 44
22 Greenville $349,300 $1,078 30 43
26 Rock Hill $187,000 $1,098 45 38
28 Columbia $193,100 $1,007 24 37
33 North Charleston $203,100 $1,160 30 31
39 Sumter $142,100 $908 34 19

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within South Carolina. Updated 2026.