What is the cost of living in Sumter?

Sumter has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 88.0, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 60.8, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,276/month.

What is the median salary in Sumter?

The median salary in Sumter is $56,027 annually (mean: $59,714). Top occupations include Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Customer Service Representatives.

The violent crime rate in the Sumter area is 439 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1988 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Sumter?

The state of SC has 1,215 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.3:1. Charter schools make up 7.2% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Sumter?

Infant center-based childcare in the Sumter area averages $7,732 per year. Preschool averages $7,402/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Sumter a good place to relocate?

Sumter has a Life Score of 52.6/100 (D), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does Sumter sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Sumter ranks #11 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Sumter, SC

LiveAbility 67.8/100 places Sumter #11 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

88.0
Cost index (US=100): $1,276
2BR rent / mo: $56,027
Median salary: 67.8
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Sumter ranks #11 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (67.8/100), with its strongest marks in climate and safety.

#11
of 387 US metros · Excellent: 5,478,831
metro-area population: 439
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 1,215
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: job market (12/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Sumter ranks #11 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 88.0 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,276/mo, median salary $56,027; LiveAbility Score 67.8/100, strongest in climate and safety.

Signature: LiveAbility 67.8/100 places Sumter #11 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 88.0 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,276/mo.

LiveAbility 67.8/100 puts Sumter in the top third (#11 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Sumter area is 28,110.

Sumter vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

68 Top 3% higher than 97% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Sumter housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Sumter MSA; housing RPP 60.8 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,276/mo.

Studio

$880

/month

1 Bedroom

$972

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,276

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,530

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,871

/month

Sumter wages and employment

Sumter posts 28,110 total employment with median salary $56,027 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$56,027

Mean Salary

$59,714

Total Employment

28,110

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$24,510
Retail Salespersons	$28,720
Customer Service Representatives	$39,100
Cashiers	$26,710
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$28,030

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Sumter area from NCES.

Schools

1,215

Enrollment

784,749

Student:Teacher

14.3:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Sumter area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$7,732

per year

Toddler (Center)

$7,449

per year

Preschool (Center)

$7,402

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Sumter's composite Life Score is 52.6/100 (D), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

87/100

Elite

Wages

12/100

Bottom decile

Rent

52/100

Average

Crime

96/100

Elite

Schools

28/100

Weak

Childcare

69/100

Strong

Environment

9/100

Bottom decile

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Sumter ranks #11 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 67.8/100 - a composite of 7 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data (missing dims omitted; remaining weights renormalized). Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Climate (100/100)

Climate

100
Safety

96
Cost of living

87
Low hazard

76
Schools

72
Housing

52
Job market

12

What this shows Sumter's strongest dimensions are climate and safety; its weakest among scored dims is job market at 12/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%; this metro uses 7 of 8 dims with renormalized weights.

Compare Sumter to

Santa Rosa-Petaluma Savannah Scranton--Wilkes-Barre Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor Sebring

Metros near Sumter on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Sumter on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Sumter cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Sumter wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Sumter?

Sumter runs a $56,027 median salary at a 88.0 cost index, ranking #11 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Sumter's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Sumter head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Sumter
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.