Best PlacesAshley Heights, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ashley Heights, 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.
Ashley Heights ranks 25,242nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ashley Heights
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.
Ashley Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ashley Heights ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 77% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 75% of towns
- Cheap childcare$658 a month, better than 72% of towns
Where Ashley Heights ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 50 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ashley Heights
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ashley Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,097, 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 Ashley Heights' effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Ashley Heights
Ashley Heights's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Ashley Heights.
Who works in Ashley Heights, and how
Work in Ashley Heights centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ashley Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ashley Heights.
What the weather is like in Ashley Heights, month by month
Ashley Heights sees roughly 50 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 42° | 30° |
| April | 78° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Ashley Heights
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ashley Heights
Schools across Ashley Heights average a B, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mcdeeds Creek ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Southern Pines ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- West Hoke ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southern MiddleB · 46% proficient
- West Hoke MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandhoke Early College HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Pinecrest HighA− · 65% proficient
- Hoke County HighB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ashley Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ashley Heights 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 Ashley Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ashley Heights
Is Ashley Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ashley Heights ranks 25,242nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and low property taxes, and lowest on the weather and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ashley Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $336,000. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $71,097 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Ashley Heights safe?
Ashley Heights is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $331 per resident a year.
Compare Ashley Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ashley Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ashley Heights 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.
Ashley Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ashley Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ashley Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ashley Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ashley Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ashley Heights 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.