Greenville, SC
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Greenville ranks 138th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 148th for income. A household earns $75,881 a year while median rent runs $1,236/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (103rd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (185th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 143rd and home prices 147th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Greenville, your take-home is worth about $62,621 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 148th of 300↑29.4%$75,881
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 122nd of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $81,365
- Per-capita income
- $40,407
- Full-time pay
- $44,606
Housing
- Median rent
- 143rd of 300↑42.6%$1,236/mo
- Home value
- 147th of 300↑60.8%$300,400
- Property tax
- $1,369/yr · 0.5%
- Sales tax
- 7.50%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 151st of 3004.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 113th of 30036.5%
- Avg commute
- 160th of 30024.4 min
People
- Population
- 996,680
- Population change
- +8.3%
- Median age
- 38.9 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7%
- Broadband
- 93.1%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 185th of 30049
- Natural-hazard loss
- 103rd of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 147th of 30018.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
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Watch-outs
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Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — greenville dwtn ap.
What jobs pay in Greenville
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $231,790
- IT managers
- $161,180
- Financial managers
- $145,610
- Pharmacists
- $135,580
- Lawyers
- $124,970
- Software developers
- $121,790
- General & operations managers
- $106,750
- Civil engineers
- $102,830
- Registered nurses
- $81,400
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,870
- Web developers
- $75,390
- Secondary school teachers
- $64,060
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,680
- Electricians
- $60,210
- Police officers
- $57,780
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $53,080
- Plumbers
- $50,890
- Carpenters
- $50,090
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $49,500
- Construction laborers
- $44,380
- Customer service reps
- $39,010
- Janitors
- $31,180
- Retail salespersons
- $30,840
- Cashiers
- $29,080
- Waiters & waitresses
- $19,950
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Greenville metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in South Carolina are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- North Carolina4,697
- Georgia3,368
- Florida2,974
- Virginia1,604
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Greenville
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Greenville metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Greenville metro?
- Median gross rent across the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area is $1,236 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Greenville.
- What is the median household income in the Greenville metro?
- A typical household in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area earns $75,881 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Greenville expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area runs about 7% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Greenville metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $81,365 (versus its face value of $75,881). CityLedger rates the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Greenville metro?
- The median home value across the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area is $300,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Greenville metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area is 4.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).