Is Greenville SC a Good Place to Live?
Having grown up in Greenville, whenever I talk to anyone not from here about this place, most people have never heard of it. So it’s natural for a lot of people to wonder, “Is Greenville SC a good place to live?”
A little background first. Greenville, South Carolina is a city located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has a walkable downtown and lots of greenery.
Its mid-size population consists of about 70,000 residents, while the surrounding metro area has a population of about 401,000. If you’re interested in learning more about Greenville, keep reading.
Is Greenville SC a Good Place to Live?
Livability ranked Greenville as the 10th best place to live in the US, and Conde Naste Traveler recently ranked it as the friendliest city.
Greenville offers all the conveniences of a large city while also maintaining the charm and quality of life found in smaller towns.
It’s also one of the most affordable cities in the Southeast region and offers numerous job opportunities in industries such as tech, engineering, healthcare, and manufacturing.
One of the major benefits of living in Greenville, South Carolina is the low cost. Yahoo even listed it as one of “The 10 Coolest Cities with the Lowest Cost of Living in the US.” According to the US cost of living index, Greenville scored 89.8 (about 10% lower than the national average of 100).
This index takes into consideration expenses in all categories such as food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and entertainment. The cost of living in Greenville is only slightly higher than the South Carolina state average of 88.5. Additionally, the city has some of the lowest property and gas tax rates in the whole country.
Things to Do in Greenville
With its rich history and culture, you’ll never run out of things to do in Greenville. Below is a non-exhaustive list.
Enjoy Festivals and Live Events
The city hosts over 300 music, culinary, and arts festivals and live events every year. Some of the most popular ones include Artisphere, euphoria, and the TD Saturday Market. You can also attend games at the Fluor Field, home to the Greenville Drive baseball team (a class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox).
You might also like watching the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, our professional ice hockey team. Arguably Greenville’s biggest event of the year is Fall for Greenville. It’s a fun music and food festival that brings in acts from all across the country.
Dining
Greenville has a thriving culinary scene that offers rooftop and outdoor dining and supports more than 120 independent restaurants. Popular restaurants include Trappe Door, Smoky Dreams BBQ, OJ’s Diner, Passerelle Bistro, Soby’s, and the Anchorage, which was a semifinalist in the 2018 James Beard Awards. The city also has an active nightlife, with many of the bars and restaurants staying open late.
Enjoy the Arts
If you’re interested in visual art, visit one of the city’s numerous galleries. There’s the Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Indigo Flow & Art (a hybrid art gallery and yoga studio), and the Flatiron Building. In the way of performing arts, the Peace Center has both a concert hall and a theater that regularly hosts concerts in every musical genre, ballets, comedy, and Broadway shows.
Visit Parks
Falls Park on the Reedy is a stunning park in downtown Greenville. Here, you can walk along Liberty Bridge overlooking the Reedy River Falls and the city skyline.
You can also watch the Upstate Shakespeare Festival perform Shakespeare in the Park during the summers. Enjoy walking and biking along the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail. It extends 22 miles and weaves throughout the downtown area.
Blue Ridge Mountains
In Greenville, you can visit the Blue Ridge Escarpment, which is a natural landmark where the Blue Ridge Mountain Range drops to meet the Upstate South Carolina foothills. Travelers of any age can visit this location and view waterfalls, forests, mountain streams, and a vast array of plant and animal species.
Weather
The weather in Greenville is a perfect balance of having mostly mild, sunny weather throughout the year and still maintaining four distinct seasons. As part of the Piedmont region, the city has a humid subtropical climate.
The city sees an average of 220 sunny days out of the year. Summers are warm and humid with an average daily high of 80 degrees, while winters are cool and have an average daytime temperature in January of 42.2 degrees.
Job Market
Greenville used to be known as the “textile capital of the world.” Over the last few decades, however, the economy has been growing in many other industries like technology and engineering, manufacturing, and healthcare.
According to the US Census Bureau, from 2015 to 2016, it was the fourth fastest-growing city in the country, creating many job opportunities for its residents. The largest employers in Greenville include Prisma Health, Greenville County Schools, Michelin North America, Inc, and the City of Greenville.
Some of the most popular careers in the city are mechanical engineer, project manager, and operations manager, with typical annual salaries of between $36,000 to $110,000. Despite fast economic growth, Greenville has managed to keep living costs low.
Housing Costs
Purchasing a home is much more affordable in Greenville than in most of the US. According to Zillow, the average cost of a house here is $263,080, which is far lower than the national average of $374,900.
It also is much lower than the average cost in other major cities in the region, such as Charlotte ($349,176) and Atlanta ($367,155). If you are looking to settle down in a city in the Southeast, Greenville is a great and affordable option.
Renting is also inexpensive. The average single-family home in Greenville rents for about $1,240 a month, which is considerably lower than the national average of $1,469.
Final Thoughts on Greenville
Whether you’re looking for new career opportunities, a place to raise a family, or your next vacation, Greenville has much to offer. It combines natural beauty with a bustling city lifestyle that has arts, culture, independent restaurants, sports, and hundreds of festivals and events. The quality of life and job market combined with the cost of living here is unbeatable, making this one of the best cities to live in in the United States.
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