?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Pick an HQ · South Carolina

Best cities to put your HQ in South Carolina

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Pick an HQ” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Greenville, SC73k residents

    67/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 55.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,195/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  2. 2.North Charleston, SC120k residents

    59/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 28.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,069/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  3. 3.Charleston, SC154k residents

    57/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 58.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,389/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  4. 4.Summerville, SC52k residents

    57/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 33.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,069/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  5. 5.Fort Mill, SC31k residents

    56/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 57.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,213/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  6. 6.Bluffton, SC33k residents

    55/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 51.9% · avg. weekly wage: $1,102/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  7. 7.Hilton Head Island, SC38k residents

    54/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 56.1% · avg. weekly wage: $1,102/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  8. 8.Greer, SC42k residents

    53/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 41.4% · avg. weekly wage: $1,269/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  9. 9.Anderson, SC30k residents

    53/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 28.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,044/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

  10. 10.Rock Hill, SC75k residents

    52/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 35.1% · avg. weekly wage: $1,213/wk · corporate income tax: 5%

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to put your HQ in South Carolina?
Greenville, SC ranks first with a fit score of 67/100, followed by North Charleston (59) and Charleston (57), using the "Pick an HQ" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.