Best Places27820, NC Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 27820, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

27820 ranks 28,442nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.

#28,442
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 27820

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 27820 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

27820's strengths and weaknesses

Top 10%State finances
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 27820 with other zip codes.

Where 27820 ranks high

  • State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than 84% of zip codes
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of zip codes
  • Air qualityBetter than 79% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than 67% of zip codes

Where 27820 ranks low

  • School gradeD, better than only 6% of zip codes
  • Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
  • Short commute34.0 minutes each way, better than only 13% of zip codes
  • Local economyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
  • Household income$54,046 median, better than only 15% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 27820

A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 27820 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,046, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$33,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$763
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $127,838 home
Median rent
$694
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$652
Property tax$69
Homeowners insurance$43

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 27820's effective rate of 0.65%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 27820

27820's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
39
about the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
16%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1825%
18 to 3422%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6418%
65 and older16%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 27820.


Who works in 27820, and how

Work in 27820 centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
5%
below the national average
Unemployment
4.6%
about the national average
Job growth
−12.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Manufacturing26%
Education12%
Retail trade11%
Construction10%
Health care & social9%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 94%
  • Work from home 5%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 1%

Life in 27820

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 27820.


What the weather is like in 27820, month by month

27820 sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January51°40°31°
April72°59°48°
July88°78°69°
October73°61°51°

Flying in and out of 27820

The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 75 miles away.

Nearest airport
PGV
Pitt-Greenville, about 55 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
291st-busiest in the US, 1 nonstop destinations
Average drive
78 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 27820

Schools across 27820 average a D, better than 6% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 27820 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


27820 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 27820 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 27820

Is 27820 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 27820 ranks 28,442nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 27820 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $127,838. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $54,046 median income, cost of living beats 20% of zip codes.

Is 27820 safe?

27820 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $676 per resident a year.


Compare 27820 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 27820. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 27820 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.

27820 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 27820: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 27820: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 27820: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 27820: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

27820 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.