South Carolina Cost of Living by City: Rent, Income, Homes

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Living costs differ a lot across South Carolina's 36 largest places. Median rent runs from $839 in Greenwood to $2,256 in Bluffton, and median household income from $41,150 (Greenwood) to $142,000 (Tega Cay). All figures are U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates with their margins of error; price levels by metro are from BEA.

Places36in the table
Median Household Income$74,436middle place
Median Rent$1,337middle place
CheckedOct 262026

The Short Answer

BEA puts South Carolina's 2024 Regional Price Parity (all items) at 93.749 (U.S. = 100); the housing services RPP is 80.49. source
Among SC metro areas in 2024, BEA's all-items RPP runs from 86.774 (Florence, SC) to 100.962 (Charleston-North Charleston, SC). source
Figures are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020-2024 (released by the Census Bureau), read from the Census Bureau table-based summary files. Each figure carries its 90 percent margin of error (moe_90pct). source

Cost of Living in South Carolina by City: The Figures

Search this list36 of 36

Place	Population	Median household income	Median rent	Median home value	Source
Charleston city, Berkeley County, Charleston County	154,338 ±200	$92,414 ±$3,404	$1,722 ±$33	$509,700 ±$17,642	source
Columbia city, Lexington County, Richland County	139,643 ±171	$55,529 ±$1,827	$1,204 ±$28	$264,300 ±$11,700	source
North Charleston city, Berkeley County, Charleston County, Dorchester County	119,913 ±119	$62,956 ±$3,840	$1,430 ±$30	$302,200 ±$11,654	source
Mount Pleasant town, Charleston County	93,993 ±36	$124,755 ±$7,852	$2,159 ±$118	$748,500 ±$22,756	source
Rock Hill city, York County	75,259 ±94	$68,771 ±$3,245	$1,341 ±$36	$295,100 ±$11,456	source
Greenville city, Greenville County	72,935 ±52	$71,472 ±$2,965	$1,312 ±$43	$487,500 ±$22,040	source
Summerville town, Berkeley County, Charleston County, Dorchester County	51,654 ±63	$81,046 ±$6,058	$1,526 ±$98	$328,100 ±$8,120	source
Goose Creek city, Berkeley County	48,078 ±61	$88,178 ±$3,979	$1,690 ±$46	$306,000 ±$10,528	source
Sumter city, Sumter County	43,053 ±52	$55,592 ±$4,294	$1,076 ±$60	$199,100 ±$11,238	source
Greer city, Greenville County, Spartanburg County	41,536 ±59	$82,626 ±$7,064	$1,198 ±$79	$288,700 ±$12,701	source
Florence city, Darlington County, Florence County	40,408 ±41	$56,143 ±$3,854	$992 ±$62	$211,400 ±$11,085	source
Spartanburg city, Spartanburg County	38,910 ±55	$51,964 ±$4,163	$1,099 ±$30	$203,700 ±$15,717	source
Myrtle Beach city, Horry County	38,371 ±79	$60,394 ±$3,850	$1,261 ±$77	$388,800 ±$34,009	source
Hilton Head Island town, Beaufort County	37,911 ±43	$94,657 ±$9,084	$1,479 ±$162	$687,400 ±$30,316	source
Bluffton town, Beaufort County	33,157 ±35	$111,281 ±$6,844	$2,256 ±$121	$492,100 ±$27,672	source
Aiken city, Aiken County	32,521 ±32	$76,746 ±$5,591	$1,180 ±$54	$286,800 ±$14,782	source
Fort Mill town, York County	30,775 ±44	$121,823 ±$6,754	$1,503 ±$146	$487,500 ±$19,616	source
Anderson city, Anderson County	30,051 ±58	$46,933 ±$4,427	$975 ±$58	$218,200 ±$13,472	source
Conway city, Horry County	27,263 ±38	$56,650 ±$6,653	$866 ±$158	$260,900 ±$10,203	source
Mauldin city, Greenville County	27,055 ±47	$82,331 ±$4,169	$1,490 ±$92	$258,500 ±$11,279	source
Carolina Forest CDP, Horry County	26,263 ±2,009	$74,436 ±$6,922	$1,668 ±$102	$336,800 ±$26,903	source
Simpsonville city, Greenville County	26,144 ±70	$82,457 ±$5,425	$1,415 ±$60	$299,300 ±$17,799	source
North Augusta city, Aiken County, Edgefield County	25,653 ±359	$86,092 ±$8,579	$1,169 ±$63	$233,600 ±$9,123	source
Easley city, Anderson County, Pickens County	24,841 ±33	$66,299 ±$8,327	$947 ±$94	$263,500 ±$17,229	source
Lexington town, Lexington County	24,585 ±36	$87,126 ±$10,332	$1,545 ±$83	$297,700 ±$10,146	source
Taylors CDP, Greenville County	24,505 ±1,626	$77,144 ±$12,476	$1,337 ±$109	$257,500 ±$12,406	source
Socastee CDP, Horry County	23,796 ±2,165	$62,257 ±$8,778	$1,246 ±$101	$234,200 ±$12,416	source
Greenwood city, Greenwood County	22,536 ±33	$41,150 ±$1,937	$839 ±$38	$136,300 ±$17,039	source
Hanahan city, Berkeley County	21,452 ±40	$87,984 ±$10,295	$1,412 ±$90	$374,800 ±$15,452	source
North Myrtle Beach city, Horry County	19,855 ±27	$72,722 ±$3,862	$1,263 ±$117	$416,900 ±$17,365	source
Clemson city, Anderson County, Pickens County	18,072 ±94	$49,520 ±$4,042	$1,007 ±$70	$398,400 ±$35,647	source
Beaufort city, Beaufort County	13,747 ±26	$61,220 ±$9,318	$1,212 ±$154	$345,400 ±$38,325	source
Cayce city, Lexington County, Richland County	13,741 ±635	$62,045 ±$8,079	$1,360 ±$92	$166,800 ±$9,660	source
Tega Cay city, York County	13,615 ±23	$142,000 ±$23,593	$1,408 ±$554	$529,200 ±$57,628	source
Irmo town, Lexington County, Richland County	11,813 ±49	$80,489 ±$17,507	$1,477 ±$129	$203,400 ±$18,424	source
Lancaster city, Lancaster County	8,921 ±22	$46,311 ±$4,860	$868 ±$82	$239,100 ±$40,193	source

Figures exactly as the agency publishes them; ± is the Census margin of error at 90% confidence. Sorting is by the figure, not a judgement.

Regional Price Parities (BEA, 2024)

RPPs measure price-level differences across regions for one year, as a percentage of the national price level (U.S. = 100). Last updated February 19, 2026, with new statistics for 2024. source

How to Read The Census Figures

Figures are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020-2024 (released by the Census Bureau), read from the Census Bureau table-based summary files. Each figure carries its 90 percent margin of error (moe_90pct). source
The ACS publishes 90 percent confidence level margins of error (the Census Bureau standard): you can be 90 percent confident that the interval within the margin of error from the estimate includes the true value. source
The Census Bureau says not to compare overlapping ACS 5-year datasets (for example 2005-2009 with 2006-2010). source

What We Could Not Confirm

Not confirmed: we looked for these on official pages and did not find them. Check with the town or operator before you rely on them.

The Census data API (api.census.gov) returned a "Missing Key" page for every query tried on 2026-10-26, including the example query in the task, so no API URL could be used. The same ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates and MOEs were read from the Census Bureau table-based summary files on www2.census.gov (one pipe-delimited file per table, GEO_ID 1600000US45xxxxx = SC place). Variable names are given in API form (e.g. B25064_001E / B25064_001M); in the summary files the columns are B25064_E001 / B25064_M001.
Indian Land (Lancaster County) is not a Census place in the ACS 2024 geography file (no place or CDP record), so there is no place-level ACS row for it; the closest Census unit would be a county subdivision or tracts – not pulled.
BEA RPPs exist for states and metro areas only, not for cities; the metro value is listed in each item via metro_areas, but a city figure was not computed.
BEA RPP for Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal and Sumter metros are included; micro areas (Gaffney, Greenwood, Murrells Inlet, Newberry, Orangeburg, Seneca) have no separate RPP; BEA publishes a state nonmetropolitan portion figure in its PARPP table, which was not downloaded.
Region is an editorial grouping by county assigned by us (York, Lancaster and Chester counties put in Upstate); it is not from a source.
A rule-of-thumb "cost of living index" for cities was not built: no allowed source publishes one at city level.

Sources

Read on October 26, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.

Cite this page: It's South Carolina, “Cost of Living in South Carolina by City”, itssouthcarolina.com/living/cost-of-living-in-south-carolina/cost-of-living-by-city/ (updated 2026-10-26). By the It's South Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.