Best PlacesAlexander County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alexander County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alexander County ranks 946th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alexander County
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.
The best areas in Alexander County
The parts of Alexander County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hiddenite
Stony Point
Taylorsville & Hickory
Fewer households have young kids and homes cost more.
Scores across Alexander County run from about the 23rd to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Alexander County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alexander County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of counties
- QuietBetter than 82% of counties
Where Alexander County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 14% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 20% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alexander County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alexander County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,075, 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 Alexander County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alexander County
Alexander County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alexander County.
Who works in Alexander County, and how
Work in Alexander County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Alexander County
Alexander County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Alexander County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alexander County growing, and who is moving in?
Alexander County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Hickory, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alexander County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alexander County, month by month
Alexander County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Alexander County
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alexander County
Schools across Alexander County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Moravian Falls Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Central ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Snow Creek ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Alexander MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Northview MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Harry M Arndt MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Alexander Early CollegeA+ · 85% proficient
- Alexander Central HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Saint Stephens HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alexander County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alexander County 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 Alexander County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Alexander County suits
Common questions about living in Alexander County
Is Alexander County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alexander County ranks 946th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alexander County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,472. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,075 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Alexander County safe?
Yes, Alexander County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $288 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alexander County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 29. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Alexander County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hiddenite, Stony Point, and Taylorsville & Hickory. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Alexander County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alexander County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alexander County 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.
Alexander County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alexander County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alexander County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alexander County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alexander County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alexander County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.