Rank

1364of 3,144

Beaufort, South Carolina

Score 6.40 / 10· population 198,979

About 199,000 people live in Beaufort, South Carolina. It ranks #1,364 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #3 of 46 in South Carolina. The combined sales tax is 6%, lower than in 62% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.5% of a home's value each year, less than in 79% of counties. Local government employs a smaller share of working residents than in 94% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 85% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is worse than in 71% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 45), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in almost every other county. On this site's state scores, South Carolina gets 6.84 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 10 of 10 for gun rights.

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values

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Eleven factors

Government behavior

  1. Fraser Institute state ranking (state)6.8
  2. 2A (state)10.0
  3. GOP + LP vote for President5.7
  4. Sales tax4.5
  5. Property tax7.5

Environment

  1. Air quality5.5
  2. Floods / hurricanes0.1

Private behavior

  1. Homicide rate5.9
  2. Life expectancy10.0
  3. Government employees9.5
  4. Single-parent households2.9

Neighbors