The Upstate officially crossed one million residents this year, and a lot of those buyers are trying to land close to downtown Greenville, where the average sales price over the last 90 days is just under $600,000 and, in some cases, running $500 to $600 a square foot. That kind of price tends to get you a condo, a townhome, or an older home from the first half of the 20th century that's been renovated over time, not necessarily the space a lot of families are after. Drive just 15 to 20 minutes outside downtown and that same budget starts buying a bigger home, a bigger yard, and established neighborhoods with pools and parks, all while mortgage rates are still sitting in the mid-to-high 6% range. You don't lose Greenville either. You can still work downtown, grab dinner there, or catch a show at the Peace Center whenever you want. If getting more house for your money matters to you, it's worth taking a real look at Greer, Simpsonville, Travelers Rest, Fountain Inn, and Woodruff before you set your budget in stone.

Here's the whole breakdown, where buyers are moving instead of downtown Greenville, why they're choosing these areas, and the trade-offs to know before you decide which one works for you:

Greenville has grown fast. The Upstate region officially crossed one million residents this year, and more people moving here means more people trying to buy close to downtown Greenville.

There's only so much room inside the city. The average sales price in the city of Greenville over the last 90 days is just under $600,000, and in some cases you'll pay more than $500 or $600 a square foot to live that downtown lifestyle. Even with a pretty healthy budget, you may end up with less house or a smaller lot than you expected.

The closer you get to downtown, the more condos and townhomes you'll find, along with exactly what you'd expect: older, smaller homes built in the first half of the 20th century that have been renovated over time. If you're hoping for a bigger home, a yard for the kids, or just a little more room between you and your neighbor, you may start wondering how much that downtown location is worth to you.

There are still only so many homes to choose from inside the city, but across Greenville County, buyers have more options this year, and a good portion of them are outside the city limits. Go about 15 or 20 minutes outside of downtown, and you open up a lot more options without moving that far away.

The difference in what your money can buy can be pretty significant. Instead of giving up space to stay close to downtown, that same budget gets you a larger home and a bigger yard in the surrounding suburbs, or even in Greenville proper outside the downtown core. You'll also find established neighborhoods with community pools, larger parks, and more space for families and retirees alike to spread out.

With mortgage rates still around the mid-to-high 6% range, buyers are watching their monthly payment pretty closely. If you're already paying more because of the rate, you want to make sure you're getting enough house for that money.

Living in the suburbs doesn't mean giving up Greenville. You can still work in the city, head downtown for dinner, visit Falls Park, or catch a show at the Peace Center whenever you want. You're still close to all of it, you just don't have to pay the higher price to live right in the middle of downtown.

Some places give you more house and a bigger yard, while others may work better for your commute, your schools, or just the kind of lifestyle you want. You don't have to go far. Sometimes moving just 15, 20, or 25 minutes outside the city can get you more for your budget while still keeping you close to Greenville. That's a pretty good trade for many people.

Greer is one of the best places to look if your job and commute are a big part of where you decide to live. It sits between Greenville and Spartanburg, right along I-85 or Wade Hampton Boulevard, so you can get to either city pretty easily. If two people in the same house work in opposite directions, one toward Greenville and the other toward Spartanburg, Greer can be a pretty convenient middle ground.

Greer has been growing quite a bit lately. Last year, the population got to around 50,000 residents, and all the jobs nearby are a big reason people keep moving here.

BMW is a huge part of that. They've been building cars here since the mid-90s, and their plant near Greer is the largest plant in the world by production volume. BMW's investment in South Carolina is now getting close to $12 billion, and a plant that size supports other companies and jobs around it too. So even if you don't work directly for BMW, there are businesses across the area connected to what they've built here over the last few decades.

Then you have Inland Port Greer, which moves freight by rail and recently expanded its rail shipping capacity, giving logistics companies more room to operate and grow nearby. GSP International Airport is also just minutes away, so you have manufacturing, logistics, and aviation jobs all concentrated around this part of the Upstate. For someone relocating here for work, having this many major employers nearby can be a pretty big advantage.

But people aren't choosing Greer only because it's close to work. Downtown Greer, or Greer Station, has changed quite a bit over the last several years, and the city has done a nice job bringing new life back into that area. You've got brick streets with local coffee shops and breweries, plus small businesses you can walk between while you're downtown. There's even an old bank building from the 1880s that's now a coffee shop, and they kept the original vault inside, which is pretty cool. Greer is one of the prettiest downtowns you'll find in the Upstate.

When you start looking at homes, you'll find a wide range here. The average sales price for homes in Greer over the last 90 days is $432,000, and last year over that same time period, the average sales price was $421,000, which is a 3% increase year over year, showing continued demand and desirability for the greater area of Greer.

If you head farther north toward Lake Robinson, the homes start to spread out a little more. You'll find bigger lots, a more rural setting, and some homes closer to the water. Prices can start in the low to mid $400s, but lakefront and larger properties can go much higher, like our listing at 528 Coolwater Drive on the shores of Lake Robinson, priced in the mid $600s with mountain and lake views in the gated community of Stillwater at Lake Robinson.

Greer has higher-end options in other parts of the city too. Among the most desirable luxury communities in the area are right here in Greer, like Thornblade, where you're getting larger homes built around a private golf and country club.

Another thing worth keeping in mind with Greer is what all those nearby jobs can mean if you eventually sell your home, and the schools on this side of town are in high demand too. Schools like Wade Hampton, Riverside, Eastside, and Blue Ridge are among the more desired schools in our area. With a highly desired job market, school system, travel time to downtown Greenville, and an easy commute to GSP, it's no wonder the real estate market here is doing well and will likely continue to do so.

Simpsonville is one of the fastest-growing communities south of Greenville. It has around 29,000 residents, and you've got a good mix of established neighborhoods and newer communities to choose from. Getting into Greenville is pretty easy because you're right along I-385, and for your day-to-day stuff, you've got grocery stores, restaurants, and most of the major retailers right around you on several well-known corridors.

One of the best-known areas for families looking here is Five Forks. It's technically unincorporated, so depending on where you live, you could have a Simpsonville, Greenville, or Greer address. But schools are a big reason families keep looking in this area. Monarch Elementary ranks second in Greenville County, and Bells Crossing, Oakview, and Rudolph Gordon, which is close to Five Forks and Simpsonville but technically in Fountain Inn, are all highly desirable. If schools are high on your list, like they are for many of our younger clients and should still be for older clients alike, there's a good chance Five Forks is going to come up while you're looking for a home.

More people are choosing to live here, and Five Forks continues to see steady home sales activity throughout the year. The average price for homes in Five Forks over the last 90 days is $575,000, with the median price at $465,000, and in that same time period last year, the average price was $552,000 and the median was $460,000. That works out to a 4% increase in average price and a 1% year-over-year increase in median price. The average and median are so different because there's a higher concentration of higher-priced communities in this general area than arguably any other part of the area, with the exception of downtown and maybe the eastside of town. If your budget is somewhere between $450,000 and $900,000, Five Forks is going to be a pretty safe bet to consider.

But you don't necessarily have to be in Five Forks to find good options in Simpsonville. Throughout Simpsonville, on both sides of I-385, you'll find desirable communities where we have many past clients who love living there. There's a good mix of homes here too. Some neighborhoods have been around for 20, 30, even 40 years, so you get old trees, bigger yards, and more of that classic neighborhood look. You've also got newer subdivisions if you'd rather have a newer home and more of that master-planned neighborhood setup.

The main downside you're going to hear about in Simpsonville is traffic. Woodruff Road, Fairview Road, Standing Springs Road, Fork Shoals Road, and others can get pretty backed up during rush hour, because that's also where you have so much of the shopping and feeder roads for many communities. But having all of that nearby is convenient. You can get most of your shopping and errands done close to home, which is nice when you're going between school, appointments, and everything else you have going on during the week.

You've also got good options nearby for getting outside. Lake Conestee Nature Park has around 400 acres with trails and wildlife areas. You can catch concerts at the CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park, and downtown Simpsonville gives you another place to grab dinner or spend an evening without having to drive into Greenville. In my opinion, Simpsonville is the most comprehensive suburb in Greenville.

Travelers Rest is where you get that mountain town lifestyle while still being about 20 to 25 minutes from downtown Greenville. Locals call it TR, and it sits right at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It's still a small town. Last year it had about 9,000 residents, but it's growing pretty fast, and one of the big reasons people are moving here is everything they can do outside.

The Swamp Rabbit Trail is probably the biggest draw. It's a paved greenway that runs for roughly 20 miles from Travelers Rest down into Greenville and beyond. You can walk it, run it, ride your bike, or bring a stroller. Some people even use it to get around without taking the car, and we use it mostly to walk from Unity Park to the Swamp Rabbit Cafe to grab a sandwich and an iced coffee.

Then you've got Paris Mountain State Park close by for hiking and mountain views. Table Rock, Caesars Head, Devils Fork, and everything to explore in the Blue Ridge Mountains is an easy drive too, so you don't have to go very far when you want to spend time in the mountains. That's also why this suburb gets attention from people who want a small town that isn't far from Greenville with easy access to the mountains. If you're used to hiking, biking, and having the mountains close by, you can still have that here while living about 15 minutes from Greenville. Time after time, the folks we work with who enjoy road biking choose Travelers Rest because of its convenience to Paris Mountain, Marietta, and northern Taylors, where you'll see many groups riding throughout the week or on weekends.

Furman University is nearby too. You've got the campus and the lake there, and it brings some college town energy to the area. There are newer developments too, but they tend to be smaller instead of those big master-planned communities with clubhouses and resort-style pools.

In TR over the last 90 days, the average price for a home is $505,000. This time last year, that same number was $521,000, which we were surprised to see, to be honest. Median prices were $479,000 and $478,000, which tells me the market here is more steady than I thought just by looking at the average sales price. I don't think the desirability of Travelers Rest has changed at all. Keep in mind that around 600 homes trade here every year, compared to a place like Simpsonville, where well over 2,000 homes trade every year.

Downtown Travelers Rest has been growing too. You've got local shops and farm-to-table restaurants, and it still has that smaller downtown that people are looking for when they choose to live here instead of closer to Greenville.

Fountain Inn and Woodruff are two more options, and they're at pretty different points in their growth.

Fountain Inn sits just south of Simpsonville along I-385, so you still have a pretty easy drive back toward Greenville. Last year it had around 15,000 residents, and it's been one of the faster-growing areas in Greenville County. One of the nice things about Fountain Inn is that it already has its own small downtown. Main Street has older brick storefronts and local businesses, and the town traces back to its days as a stagecoach stop between Greenville and Laurens. Some of our clients prefer downtown Fountain Inn over any other suburb's downtown, and for good reason. This town is focused on the right kind of growth, and it's showing. They've brought new life into some of those older places too. An old flour mill was turned into a brewery and food hall, and there's even an outdoor movie screen. You've also got Rotary Park and a splash pad for the kids, along with a local farmers market.

In Fountain Inn over the last 90 days, the average price of a home is $361,000, and in that same time period last year it was $350,000, so over the last 12 months we're seeing continued upward growth in pricing in Fountain Inn.

Woodruff is a little farther east in southern Spartanburg County, and the growth there has been pretty wild. The city grew by around 17% in a single year, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in South Carolina. BMW is a big part of the growth happening around Woodruff. They're putting about $700 million into a new battery plant nearby, expected to bring more than 300 jobs to the area. That's part of why there are plans for around 4,000 new homes in the area over the next few years.

For now, you can still buy at a lower price here than in the other areas we've covered. Home values are around the low to mid $300s. So if you want more square footage for your money, Woodruff gives you options that are getting harder to find closer to Greenville.

Of course, you're buying into an area that's still developing. You don't have the same amount of shopping and neighborhood amenities you get in Simpsonville, and you're not getting the same school options you'd have around Five Forks. You have to decide how important those things are compared to getting more house at a lower price. We've already seen how BMW can help an area grow over time. There's no guarantee Woodruff follows the same path, but with this kind of investment coming in, it's easy to understand why more people are choosing to move here.

How far outside downtown Greenville are these suburbs?

Greer, Simpsonville, and Fountain Inn all sit close in along the interstates. Travelers Rest is about 20 to 25 minutes from downtown, and Woodruff is a bit farther out in southern Spartanburg County.

Which suburb is best if I need an easy commute between Greenville and Spartanburg?

Greer. It sits right between the two along I-85 or Wade Hampton Boulevard, which makes it a convenient middle ground if two people in the same house are commuting in opposite directions.

Which suburb has the strongest school options?

Five Forks, in the Simpsonville area, comes up a lot for schools. Monarch Elementary ranks second in Greenville County, and Bells Crossing, Oakview, and Rudolph Gordon are all highly desirable too. Greer also has well-regarded schools like Wade Hampton, Riverside, Eastside, and Blue Ridge.

Where should I look if I want to stay close to outdoor recreation?

Travelers Rest. It sits at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Swamp Rabbit Trail running right through it, plus easy access to Paris Mountain State Park, Table Rock, Caesars Head, and Devils Fork.

Where can I get the most house for my money right now?

Woodruff has the lowest home values of the areas we covered, in the low to mid $300s, followed by Fountain Inn, where the average sales price is $361,000. Just know both areas are still developing and don't have the same shopping, amenities, or school options as Simpsonville or Five Forks yet.

Is BMW really driving growth in these suburbs?

Yes, in two different places. BMW's plant near Greer is the largest in the world by production volume, and their investment in South Carolina is getting close to $12 billion. They're also putting about $700 million into a new battery plant near Woodruff, expected to bring more than 300 jobs and support plans for around 4,000 new homes in that area.

Do I have to give up living close to Greenville if I move to one of these suburbs?

No. You can still work in the city, head downtown for dinner, visit Falls Park, or catch a show at the Peace Center whenever you want. You're just not paying the higher price to live right in the middle of downtown.

That's why more people are looking outside Greenville when they make their move to the Upstate. You don't have to be right in the city to get the lifestyle you came here for. It just comes down to finding the area that works best for you and your family.

If any of these suburbs caught your attention and you're thinking about making a move, send us an email at [email protected], or call or text at (864) 688-9738. My team and I can help you compare your options and see what your budget gets you in each area.

And if you're looking at new construction in any of these suburbs, watch this video I've linked here. We break down one builder trap you'll want to know about before you buy.

As always, I'm Will Sawyer, your friend in real estate. Until next time, stay safe.