New Grad with Job Offer in Aiken (Columbia: rent, health insurance)

[DreamingDog]

Hi everyone!

I'll be graduating this May with my engineering degree and I received a great job offer in Aiken, SC last semester. I was hoping to get some information from the knowledgeable people of this forum on recommendations for places to live. I'm taking a pre-employment trip to the area in mid-March so I'd like to have some places to check out while I'm there.

I'm a big outdoors guy and I'm into mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, backpacking, etc. Ideally, I'd like to live in a location that would be close to hiking trails, national forests, state parks, etc. I'm not too big on the nightlife/culture thing so living near a big urban area is not necessary. I'd only need reasonable access to a store for groceries and other supplies. Being close enough to Columbia for the occasional concert or show would be nice but is definitely not required. As far as age, I'm 28. Not sure if that would affect recommendations.

I noticed that there were some mountains in the northwest portion of the state. Ideally, I'd like to be as close to those mountains as possible while still having a reasonable commute to work on the weekdays. I was thinking of exploring intermediate locations between Aiken and Greensville so that I'd have a decent commute to work on the weekdays and a short trip to the mountains on the weekend. Not sure if that's feasible. I did a Mapquest from Aiken to Greensville and the drive is nearly three hours. I'm originally from Houston, TX so I'm no stranger to longer commutes. 30-45 min commutes are no big deal to me and I'd be willing to put up with it if it meant living close to the trails.

As far as budget, my job offer is for $70k. I did some calculations on what I'll have for disposable income. After various taxes and recurring payments(state taxes, federal taxes, medicare taxes, social security taxes, 401k contributions, health insurance payments, and student loan payments), I'm looking at about $3500 of disposable income per month. Ideally, I'd like to spend no more than $800 to $1000 per month of that on rent. Is that possible? I have no idea what rent prices look like in SC.

Also, I do have a big dog (95 lb) so I'd very strongly prefer a detached home with a backyard. In the Texas city where I'm attending college, I'm actually renting a small, semi-decent, two-bedroom house for $650 per month. It's not super nice but it's not dilapidated either. Something similar to what I have now would be ideal so I can save money for my own home in the near future. I don't need anything that's super nice or updated/remodeled. Just a small, two-bedroom house with a backyard that is liveable.

Sorry for making this so long. I just wanted to put all of the appropriate information out there. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to moving up there soon. Thanks for reading.

[waccamatt]

Since this is the Columbia forum, you'd probably get more info on Aiken in the general SC forum or the Augusta forum.

[DreamingDog]

Thanks for the help. I'll just repost it on the main SC forum.