Best Places27968, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 27968, 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.
27968 ranks 26,493rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 27968
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.
27968's strengths and weaknesses
Where 27968 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of zip codes
Where 27968 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 27968
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 27968 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,650, 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 27968's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 27968
27968 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 27968.
Who works in 27968, and how
Work in 27968 centers on real estate and admin & support services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 26%
Life in 27968
The coast is about 0 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 27968, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 27968, month by month
27968 sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 44° | 37° |
| April | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| July | 86° | 80° | 74° |
| October | 72° | 66° | 60° |
Flying in and out of 27968
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 96 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 167 miles away.
The best schools in and around 27968
Schools across 27968 average a B+, better than 72% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cape Hatteras Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Manteo Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Manteo Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Manteo High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Cape Hatteras Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 27968 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
27968 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 27968 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 27968
Is 27968 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 27968 ranks 26,493rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, health care access, and state finances, and lowest on crime and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 27968 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $431,900. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $60,650 median income, cost of living beats 90% of zip codes.
Is 27968 safe?
27968 is safer than 0% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,787 per resident a year.
Compare 27968 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 27968. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 27968 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.
27968 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 27968: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 27968: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 27968: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 27968: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
27968 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.