Which South Carolina counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 46 South Carolina counties we have scored, Lancaster County scores highest at 99 and Beaufort County lowest at 70. South Carolina ranks 10th of 50 overall, at 91 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 46 counties · 232 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsSouth Carolina ranks 10th of 50, 91 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #2 and #18. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below. Caveat for South Carolina: This state's rank could fall anywhere from #2 to #18 on a fresh draw of counties, so read its place loosely.

Every scored county in South Carolina, best score first

Find a county46 counties


Lancaster → 197 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	14	15	10
Cherokee → 144 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	14	10
Chester → 56 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	14	10
Abbeville → 50 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	14	10
Anderson → 299 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	15	13	10
Greenwood → 153 people / sq mi	97	25	19	15	13	15	10
Newberry → 62 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	14	10
Saluda → 42 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	13	14	10
Union → 52 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	14	10
York → 438 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	14	13	10
Fairfield → 30 people / sq mi	96	23	20	15	14	14	10
Laurens → 97 people / sq mi	96	24	20	15	14	13	10
Marlboro → 54 people / sq mi	96	25	19	15	14	13	10
Pickens → 273 people / sq mi	96	25	20	15	14	13	9
Spartanburg → 441 people / sq mi	96	25	20	15	14	13	9
Chesterfield → 55 people / sq mi	95	25	20	15	13	13	9
Edgefield → 55 people / sq mi	95	25	19	15	12	14	10
Oconee → 130 people / sq mi	95	25	19	14	13	14	10
Calhoun → 37 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	11	13	10
Darlington → 111 people / sq mi	94	23	20	15	13	13	10
Lee → 39 people / sq mi	94	23	19	15	14	13	10
Sumter → 157 people / sq mi	94	23	20	15	14	13	9
Allendale → 18 people / sq mi	93	24	19	15	12	14	9
Lexington → 443 people / sq mi	93	25	20	15	12	12	9
McCormick → 28 people / sq mi	93	25	17	15	12	14	10
Orangeburg → 75 people / sq mi	93	25	19	15	12	12	10
Clarendon → 51 people / sq mi	92	23	20	15	12	13	9
Aiken → 165 people / sq mi	91	25	20	15	11	11	9
Kershaw → 96 people / sq mi	91	25	19	15	12	12	8
Barnwell → 37 people / sq mi	90	25	20	15	10	12	8
Dillon → 68 people / sq mi	90	24	20	15	12	13	6
Marion → 58 people / sq mi	90	24	20	15	12	12	7
Greenville → 710 people / sq mi	89	25	19	15	15	11	4
Richland → 561 people / sq mi	89	25	20	15	9	12	8
Bamberg → 33 people / sq mi	88	22	20	15	10	13	8
Hampton → 32 people / sq mi	88	24	19	15	10	12	8
Florence → 171 people / sq mi	87	23	18	15	10	13	8
Berkeley → 231 people / sq mi	85	24	20	15	6	13	7
Dorchester → 299 people / sq mi	85	23	20	15	7	13	7
Horry → 351 people / sq mi	83	25	19	15	6	12	6
Williamsburg → 32 people / sq mi	83	22	20	15	6	13	7
Colleton → 37 people / sq mi	82	22	20	15	6	12	7
Jasper → 51 people / sq mi	82	23	20	14	10	10	5
Charleston → 462 people / sq mi	78	23	20	15	2	13	5
Georgetown → 81 people / sq mi	72	20	18	15	4	12	3
Beaufort → 345 people / sq mi	70	23	20	14	4	9	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

86% of South Carolina's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Lancaster, Cherokee and Chester. The weakest are Beaufort, Georgetown and Charleston. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and hazards (flood, fire, storms and earthquakes).

What separates them

Buildability: Lancaster County scores 10 of 10, Beaufort County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Anderson County scores 15 of 15, Charleston County 2. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Lancaster County scores 15 of 15, Beaufort County 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Water: Lancaster County scores 25 of 25, Georgetown County 20. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Legal: Lancaster County scores 20 of 20, McCormick County 17. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

Solar barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Hazard is South Carolina's weakest dimension, at 11 of 15 for the state as a whole. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $29k to $102k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full South Carolina row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in South Carolina

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in South Carolina? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsSouth Carolina: 91 of 100, 10th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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