Best Places27517, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 27517, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
27517 ranks 416th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 27517
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
27517's strengths and weaknesses
Where 27517 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Household income$128,675 median, better than 92% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 27517 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,158 a month, better than only 21% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 43% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 44% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 49% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 27517
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 27517 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,675, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 27517's effective rate of 0.88%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 27517
27517 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 27517.
Who works in 27517, and how
Work in 27517 centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 27517
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 27517.
What the weather is like in 27517, month by month
27517 sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of 27517
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 27517
Schools across 27517 average an A−, better than 90% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Glenwood ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Scroggs ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Rashkis ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phillips MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Margaret B. Pollard MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Culbreth MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- City Of Medicine AcademyA · 78% proficient
- East Chapel Hill HighA · 78% proficient
- Northwood HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 27517 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
27517 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 27517 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 27517 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 28% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of zip codes and health care access beats 98%.
Common questions about living in 27517
Is 27517 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 27517 ranks 416th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, health care access, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 27517 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $618,216. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $128,675 median income, cost of living beats 97% of zip codes.
Is 27517 safe?
27517 is safer than 49% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 27517?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of zip codes.
Is 27517 good for families?
Schools beat 90% of zip codes, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $1,158 a month.
Compare 27517 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 27517. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 27517 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
27517 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 27517: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 27517: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 27517: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 27517: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
27517 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.