With Greenville constantly growing and undertaking multiple high-profile developments this year, we figured it was time to talk about the cost of planting some roots in Greenville.
The median household income in Greenville County is $62,422 according to the US Census Bureau. State-wise, SC is 41 in the country for median income at ~$67,521 per household.
The overall cost of living in Greenville is lower than the national average, but higher than the rest of the state.
In Greenville, the cost of healthcare is lower compared to other parts of the state + the US, and the cost of groceries, housing, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses in the city have lower average costs than the country overall.
Breaking down the numbers
Hypothetically speaking, if you live in a household that brings in $50,000 annually — according to experts — you shouldn’t spend more than 30% of your monthly gross income on rent and utilities. Don’t worry, we did the math for you — your max monthly budget would be $1,250. The average monthly rent for an apartment in Greenville is $1,370 — putting you over budget.
According to a recent study by Attom Data Solutions, it’s actually more affordable to buy a home in Greenville County than to rent.
Take a look at the chart below to see how Greenville’s cost of living compares to that of Columbia.
Interested in seeing Greenville’s cost of living compared to cities in other states? We played around on nerdwallet’s cost of living calculator, where you can put in any city along with your current pre-tax household income to find out what other cities you could actually afford to live in.
We took a look at the cost of living in Greenville compared to Columbia. Here’s what we found:
- The cost of living is 2% lower in Columbia.
- To maintain our standard of living, we would need to bring in $48,824 to our Columbia household.
- The median cost for a two-bedroom apartment is $841, compared to $1,053 in Greenville
Greenville also has entities such as the Greenville Housing Fund and The Greenville Housing Authority + other government-funded programs to help develop more affordable units.
There are also a number of local development firms working on apartments seemingly all the time — from Greenville Housing Fund’s affordable housing units near Unity Park to the affordable housing development from the city of Greenville at Water Tower Crossing.
