This is the most expensive neighborhood in SC and what it costs to own a home there

There are expensive places to live in South Carolina.

Then there is Sullivan’s Island.

CashNetUSA recently ranked Sullivan’s Island as the most expensive neighborhood in South Carolina. The ranking is part of a list of the most expensive neighborhoods in every US state, based on Zillow data.

Home prices across South Carolina overall have skyrocketed the last two years. For example, the median home sales price in the state was $311,032 in the first quarter of 2023, up 22% from the first quarter of 2021, according to South Carolina Realtors.

And yet, that is all a chump change compared to home ownership in Sullivan’s Island. A home there costs an average of about $5.4 million, the ranking states.

Sullivan’s Island

The 2.5 mile-long barrier island and its charming little beach town is about 10 miles from downtown Charleston. The island has a strict preservation plan and so doesn’t have the usual accommodations that visitors would expect, like major hotels and motels. Instead, only vacation rental homes are available.

The island does feature a strong restaurant scene, with plenty of options for fine dining and family eating.

Sullivan’s Island also has a good bit of history. The island was settled in the late 17th Century by Capt. Florence O’Sullivan and was later the site of a major Revolutionary War battle.

Methodology

To compile the rankings, CashNetUSA used real estate data from Zillow to group together neighborhoods of towns and cities in all 50 US states. It then calculated the average price in each neighborhood by adding together the house prices in each area and dividing them by the number of properties.

10 most expensive US neighborhoods

Why Sullivan’s Island is pricey, it is still not among the top most expensive places to live in the US Below is a list of the 10 most expensive neighborhoods in the US and their average house prices, according to CashNetUSA.

1. Manalapan, Florida: $39,761,000

2. Palm Island, Florida: $27,624,833

3. Snowmass, Colorado: $23,568,750

4. Beverly Hills Gateway, California: $22,771,957

5. Port Royal, Florida: $22,032,667

6. Golden Beach, Florida: $18,659,412

7. Bel Air, California: $18,581,775

8. SouthHampton Village, New York: $16,719,714

9. Sagaponack, New York: $16,016,944

10. Trousdale Estates, California: $15,870,100

South Carolina home sales prices

To keep things more in perspective, here’s an interactive map that shows the latest median sales price for homes in each South Carolina county, using data from Redfin.