29910Bluffton, South Carolina

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 29910.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 27% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 1% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured89
SchoolsTop 25% of 4,422 ZIP areas measured71
GrowthTop 4% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured79
Housing affordability5004th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured62
ClimateTop 40% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured72
Physical resilience5962nd of 6,709 ZIP areas measured17
Access4316th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured89
Economic stabilityTop 36% of 6,742 ZIP areas measured67
The quick read

29910 ranks in the top 1% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $98,912.

Residential permitting has slowed: 366 units authorized over the past twelve months, 30% below the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

At a glance

Population
53,019
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$98,912
Top 20% nationally
Density
508/sq mi
104.4 sq mi of land
Median age
43.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Bluffton
South Carolina
Metro area
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
Nearest major airport
SAV
19 mi · Savannah/Hilton Head Intl
Median home value
$487,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4% is lower than 89% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 2.0% over the past year, to 17,208 employed residents.

49% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,666$98,912Top 20%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,360$58,199Top 12%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate6.6%Bottom 28%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.0 minTop 49%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher48.9%Top 13%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment17,208Bottom 15%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.3%Top 8%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.0%Top 5%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force17,808Bottom 14%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation63.7%Top 38%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,860Bottom 6%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$43,850Bottom 5%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.1%Bottom 43%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate3.4%Bottom 11%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202499k83k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $98,912 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,700$33,880
Waiters and Waitresses3,390$19,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,440$29,550
Cashiers2,280$30,350
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,220$30,900
Cooks, Restaurant1,730$36,820

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Bluffton, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.8 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
46.4%
Top 31% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
50.1%
Top 34% in South Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
May River HighBeaufort 011,73115.6
Bluffton HighBeaufort 011,37514.9
River Ridge AcademyBeaufort 011,13413.549%53%
Bluffton MiddleBeaufort 0192114.237%47%
Pritchardville ElementaryBeaufort 0188711.454%57%
H. E. McCracken MiddleBeaufort 0184612.437%47%
Bluffton ElementaryBeaufort 0170910.450%47%
Michael C. Riley ElementaryBeaufort 017049.644%45%
Red Cedar ElementaryBeaufort 0163610.857%52%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,073 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,073
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$487,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.92Top 17%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate77.2%Bottom 46%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±91022,774Top 2%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$125$2,073Top 7%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$31,529$487,000Top 13%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.1%Top 14%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.5%Bottom 35%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
79/ 100
Top 4% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 11.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
366
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.0
Top 9% nationally
Year over year
−30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Bluffton, SC, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 40°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.1 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAVANNAH INTL AP, 19.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation48.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low40°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing32°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

17 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
EarthquakeElevated
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, heat wave, strong wind, tornado, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, hail, drought, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Beaufort County records 7.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.1 per 100,000 residents in Beaufort County.

Homicide
7.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
13.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Beaufort County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 29910 rather than 29910 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 19 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV19 mi9,351 ft
Brunswick Golden IslesBQK74 mi8,001 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS101 mi8,001 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
66
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

29910 vs Bluffton

How this ZIP area compares with Bluffton as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

29910
Bluffton
Median household income
$98,912
vs
$111,281
Per capita income
$58,199
vs
$63,413
Population density
508/sq mi
vs
636/sq mi
Median home value
$487,000
vs
$492,100
Median gross rent
$2,073
vs
$2,256
Homeownership rate
77.2%
vs
83.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
48.9%
vs
51.9%
Poverty rate
6.6%
vs
4.3%
Median age
43.4
vs
42.7

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.