Best PlacesAnson County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Anson 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.
Anson County ranks 2,876th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Anson 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.
Anson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Anson County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
- QuietBetter than 77% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 69% of counties
Where Anson County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of counties
- Household income$51,484 median, better than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Anson County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,484, 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 Anson County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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.
Who lives in Anson County
Anson County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anson County.
Who works in Anson County, and how
Work in Anson County 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 Anson County
Anson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Anson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Anson County growing, and who is moving in?
Anson County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Charlotte, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Anson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Anson County, month by month
Anson County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Anson 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 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Anson County
Schools across Anson County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Peachland-polkton ElemB · 45% proficient
- Ansonville ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Lilesville ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Anson MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Anson Co. Early College HighB · 48% proficient
- Anson High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anson 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 Anson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Anson County suits
Common questions about living in Anson County
Is Anson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anson County ranks 2,876th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on crime and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Anson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,171. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $51,484 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Anson County safe?
Anson County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $829 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Anson County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 33. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
Is Anson County good for families?
Schools beat 36% of counties, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $666 a month.
Compare Anson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anson 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.
Anson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anson 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.