Schools are the main reason people move here. Fort Mill and Tega Cay voters approved a $204 million school bond in March 2024, the district's ninth since 1992, and the system went from one high school to three in under two decades. Jobs sit close by as well: LPL Financial, Lash Group and Domtar all work out of the Kingsley area, a 660-acre mixed-use district off SC-160 beside the Anne Springs Close Greenway. A typical Fort Mill homeowner earns about $128,000 a year, roughly double the South Carolina median household income.
Much of that income goes into houses that are still young. The Elizabeth subdivision, approved in 2016, welcomed its first residents in 2023 and plans about 1,300 homes and townhomes, with sale prices running from around $300,000 to near $700,000. Town council has started to push back, turning down 500 homes near White Grove in 2023 and adding impact fees for builders. Meanwhile most trips between Charlotte and Rock Hill cut through town, and the transportation director calls that through traffic a daily reality. Crews here sell to demanding buyers and lose hours on SC-160 doing it.