Best Places to Buy Rental Property in South Carolina (2026)

South Carolina has an unusual property among Southeastern states: several of its highest-volume housing markets are also among its cheapest. Columbia produced 1,342 closings in six months at a $240,000 median. Anderson did 743 at $265,000. That combination, scale plus a low entry price, is exactly what an investor wants to find and rarely does.

This page ranks South Carolina's affordable markets by entry price. It does not rank them by yield, because we do not have verified rent data for these cities. No cap rates, no rent-to-price ratios, and no cash-on-cash projections appear below.

What This Ranking Measures, and What It Does Not

Every city listed recorded at least 100 closings in the trailing six months, which removes markets too thin to underwrite. They are ordered cheapest first by median sold price.

Entry price tells you the capital required. Closing volume tells you how many comparable sales exist for valuing a property and how many buyers exist when you sell. Neither figure tells you what a house rents for.

South Carolina's statewide median sold price is $344,000 across 38,111 closings. Every city below closes under $274,001.

The Rankings

1. Hartsville, $181,250, 110 closings

The lowest entry price in the state with real volume, roughly 53 percent of the statewide median. At $181,250 both conventional and cash purchases are straightforward. The constraint is liquidity: 110 closings is about 18 sales a month, so both your comp set and your buyer pool are limited. Darlington County has a manufacturing and healthcare base plus a small college. Verify the specific neighborhood, because a citywide median at this size hides a lot.

2. Orangeburg, $186,500, 141 closings

$186,500 with 141 closings, about 24 a month. Orangeburg sits at the intersection of I-26 and I-95 with a substantial higher-education presence. Low basis is the appeal. The counterweight is long-run county population pressure, and slow-growth markets tend to have longer marketing times on exit.

3. Gaffney, $224,500, 174 closings

$224,500 across 174 closings, roughly 29 a month, in Cherokee County along the I-85 corridor between Greenville and Charlotte. That corridor has attracted significant manufacturing investment, a real employment driver rather than a speculative one. You get interstate-corridor location at a price well below either metro anchor.

4. Belton, $235,000, 109 closings

A small Anderson County market at $235,000 with 109 closings, about 18 a month. Belton is effectively a satellite of the Anderson and Greenville economies, which is both the opportunity and the caution: demand is imported. Widen your comp search beyond the city limits when valuing here.

5. West Columbia, $237,250, 223 closings

$237,250 with 223 closings, roughly 37 a month, directly across the Congaree from Columbia. You get proximity to the state capital's employment base, which includes state government, healthcare, and the university, at a price close to the cheapest markets in the state. Volume is solid for the price tier, so a defensible comparable-sales case is available on most properties.

6. Columbia, $240,000, 1,342 closings

The single strongest liquidity profile on this list and the reason South Carolina is worth attention. 1,342 closings, about 224 a month, at a $240,000 median. That is the fifth-highest transaction volume in the state paired with the lowest price among South Carolina's twelve largest markets. State government, a major university, healthcare systems, and Fort Jackson give Columbia an employment base that does not depend on one industry.

7. Manning, $240,000, 113 closings

Same median as Columbia, but 113 closings versus 1,342. That contrast is the clearest illustration on this page of why price alone is a bad ranking. Clarendon County is rural, near Lake Marion, with second-home and recreational demand mixed into the transaction pool. Check whether nearby sales were primary residences or lake properties.

8. Spartanburg, $242,000, 803 closings

$242,000 with 803 closings, about 134 a month. The Upstate value play: same metro region as Greenville, which closes at $365,000, for $123,000 less. Manufacturing and logistics anchor the economy along I-85. High volume, a low median, and a growing regional employment base is a strong combination on the two axes this ranking can measure.

9. Camden, $249,500, 109 closings

$249,500 with 109 closings, roughly 18 a month, in Kershaw County northeast of Columbia. An established equestrian and historic-district character produces housing stock with wide variation, from historic homes to standard suburban product. That makes automated valuation harder and manual comp review more important.

10. Greenwood, $250,000, 282 closings

$250,000 across 282 closings, about 47 a month, respectable volume for a market this size. Greenwood County has a manufacturing base and a small college. Volume at this level means you can usually assemble three to five genuine comparable sales, the practical threshold for trusting a valuation.

11. Sumter, $255,000, 445 closings

$255,000 with 445 closings, roughly 74 a month. Shaw Air Force Base is the dominant local factor, and military-adjacent markets behave differently: a distinct turnover cadence, demand tied to base staffing rather than the regional economy, and a tenant profile shaped by housing allowances. Real dynamics, but they need local verification.

12. Florence, $260,000, 470 closings

$260,000 with 470 closings, about 78 a month, the fourth-highest volume on this list. Florence is the Pee Dee region's medical and distribution hub, where I-95 meets I-20. Interstate logistics plus a regional hospital system gives it more employment diversity than most markets in this price band.

13. Pendleton, $260,000, 109 closings

Same median as Florence, with 109 closings instead of 470. Anderson County, adjacent to Clemson University, which shapes the local rental picture in ways that differ sharply from a conventional market, including academic-year lease timing. Do not port assumptions from a normal market into a college-adjacent one.

14. Anderson, $265,000, 743 closings

$265,000 with 743 closings, about 124 a month, the second-highest volume on this list. Anderson is the third leg of the Upstate with Greenville and Spartanburg, and Lake Hartwell nearby adds recreational demand. Substantial volume at a price 23 percent under the statewide median makes this one of the better-balanced entries here.

15. Loris, $274,000, 229 closings

The highest price on this list at $274,000, with 229 closings, roughly 38 a month. Loris sits inland in Horry County, behind the Grand Strand, the affordable-tier access point to a coastal county that produced 5,724 closings across Myrtle Beach, Conway, North Myrtle Beach, and Longs. Coastal proximity brings wind and hail insurance costs the inland markets here do not carry.

What Price Tier Actually Tells You

A low median price is a fact about entry cost, not about return. In South Carolina two expense lines can change a deal independently of price: insurance, which rises sharply with coastal exposure, and homeowner association fees, common in the new-construction communities that dominate volume in parts of the state. Transaction volume is the second lens, and South Carolina scores unusually well on it. Columbia at 1,342 closings, Spartanburg at 803, Anderson at 743, Florence at 470, and Sumter at 445 give you deep comp sets and real exit liquidity at prices under $266,000. Manning, Camden, Pendleton, and Belton, all near 110 closings, do not.

Verify Rent and Cash Flow Before You Buy

Nothing above is a cash flow figure. Take the specific address and run real rent, taxes, insurance, vacancy, and management costs through the rental property calculator, then model the full position, purchase, rehab, financing, and exit, in the deal analyzer.

For valuation, Resideline estimates are frozen at listing and later graded against the actual closing price, with results published on the accuracy dashboard. Comps are visible and adjustable, which matters in markets like Camden and Manning where housing stock varies widely, and condition is estimated from the listing photos so a fixer is not valued as a finished house. Live valuation coverage spans 31 states. Renovating, the ARV calculator keeps after-repair value separate from as-is value. For statewide context read our South Carolina housing market breakdown, and all of the free calculators run without a signup.