Best PlacesBailey, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bailey, 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.
Bailey ranks 19,239th 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 Bailey
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.
Bailey's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bailey ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 74% of towns
- Household income$86,600 median, better than 73% of towns
- School gradeB−, better than 70% of towns
Where Bailey ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 28% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bailey
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bailey home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,600, 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 Bailey's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Bailey
Bailey's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bailey.
Who works in Bailey, and how
Work in Bailey centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Bailey
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bailey.
What the weather is like in Bailey, month by month
Bailey sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 42° | 31° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Bailey
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bailey
Schools across Bailey average a B−, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rock Ridge ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Middlesex ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- John W Jones ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Springfield MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Southern Nash MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilson Early College AcademyA+ · 93% proficient
- Nrm Early College High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Southern Nash HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bailey school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bailey 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 Bailey against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bailey
Is Bailey a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bailey ranks 19,239th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bailey expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,561. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $86,600 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Bailey safe?
Bailey is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $412 per resident a year.
Compare Bailey with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bailey. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bailey 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.
Bailey detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bailey: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bailey: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bailey: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bailey: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bailey 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.