Best PlacesAlbemarle, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Albemarle, 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.
Albemarle ranks 1,706th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Albemarle
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.
Albemarle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Albemarle ranks high
- QuietBetter than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of cities
- Cheap childcare$798 a month, better than 82% of cities
Where Albemarle ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 4% of cities
- Household income$55,965 median, better than only 4% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Albemarle
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Albemarle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,965, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Albemarle's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Albemarle
Albemarle 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 Albemarle.
Who works in Albemarle, and how
Work in Albemarle centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Albemarle
Albemarle has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Albemarle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Albemarle, month by month
Albemarle sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Albemarle
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Albemarle
Schools across Albemarle average a B, better than 79% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Locust ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Badin ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
- Endy ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Stanly Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- North Stanly MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- South Stanly MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Stanly Stem Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
- Albemarle HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Albemarle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Albemarle 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 Albemarle against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Albemarle suits
Common questions about living in Albemarle
Is Albemarle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Albemarle ranks 1,706th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Albemarle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,723. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $55,965 median income, cost of living beats 12% of cities.
Is Albemarle safe?
Albemarle is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $492 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Albemarle?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 30. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Albemarle good for families?
Schools beat 79% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $798 a month.
Compare Albemarle with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Albemarle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Albemarle 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.
Albemarle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Albemarle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Albemarle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Albemarle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Albemarle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Albemarle 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.