Best Places27605, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 27605, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
27605 ranks 1,583rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 27605
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.
27605's strengths and weaknesses
Where 27605 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 27605 ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,201 a month, better than only 20% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 27605
A household needs to earn about $175,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 27605 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,975, 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 27605's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 27605
27605 runs younger 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 27605.
Who works in 27605, and how
Work in 27605 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 38%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in 27605
27605 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 27605 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 27605, month by month
27605 sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 27605
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 10 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 27605
Schools across 27605 average an A−, better than 90% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lacy ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Olds ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Wiley ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Martin MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Oberlin MiddleA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Raleigh Charter High SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Vernon Malone College And Career AcademyA · 77% proficient
- Needham Broughton HighA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 27605 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
27605 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 27605 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 27605
Is 27605 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 27605 ranks 1,583rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and transit, and lowest on the weather 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 27605 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $675,447. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $86,975 median income, cost of living beats 72% of zip codes.
Is 27605 safe?
27605 is safer than 20% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $527 per resident a year.
Compare 27605 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 27605. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 27605 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.
27605 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 27605: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 27605: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 27605: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 27605: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
27605 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.