Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Greenville's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Greenville?
Your $100,000 in Greenville has the same purchasing power as $112,701 in the average US city. You'd need $12,701 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Greenville's cost index of 89, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Greenville, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously cheaper than the national average, with no fine print and jobs are easy to find right now, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Greenville sits at 89 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 11% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,173/mo against a typical household income of $65,519, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Unemployment in Greenville is running about 3.8% — below the typical US baseline of around 4%. That usually translates to a job market where employers compete for workers more than the other way around, which is the better side of that equation to be on if you're the one moving.
The average one-way commute in Greenville is about 20 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
54% of adults 25 and over in Greenville hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Greenville's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes, several times a winter. Greenville's winter average of about 34°F sits right around freezing, so storms typically drop real snow that lingers a few days before slush sets in.
Cold but workable. Winter in Greenville averages about 34°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Greenville runs about 89°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 8. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 8 or colder should survive a typical winter in Greenville. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Greenville is at about 971 feet (296 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Greenville, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
Higher than average. Greenville reports about 4,224 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Greenville's composite cost-of-living index is 89, roughly 11% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Somewhat. Greenville earns a Walk Score of 53/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 24 out of 100.
Roughly $62,111 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Greenville runs about $1,173/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.