Best PlacesAlleghany County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alleghany County, 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.
Alleghany County ranks 2,121st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Alleghany 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.
Alleghany County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Alleghany County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap childcare$526 a month, better than 86% of counties
Where Alleghany County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 7% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alleghany County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alleghany County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $51,364; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Alleghany County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Alleghany County
Alleghany County 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 Alleghany County.
Who works in Alleghany County, and how
Work in Alleghany County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Alleghany County
Alleghany County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties and more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alleghany County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Alleghany County growing, and who is moving in?
Alleghany County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Ashe County, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alleghany County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alleghany County, month by month
Alleghany County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Alleghany County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Alleghany County
Schools across Alleghany County average a B, better than 79% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fairview ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Independence ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Mulberry Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Independence MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- North Wilkes Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashe County Early College HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Grayson County HighA · 73% proficient
- Galax HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alleghany County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alleghany 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 Alleghany County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Alleghany County
Is Alleghany County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alleghany County ranks 2,121st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alleghany County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,145. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $51,364 median income, cost of living beats 10% of counties.
Is Alleghany County safe?
Alleghany County is safer than 38% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Alleghany County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alleghany County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alleghany 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.
Alleghany County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alleghany County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alleghany County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alleghany County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alleghany County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alleghany 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.