Best PlacesBarber, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barber, 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.
Barber ranks 28,313th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Barber
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.
Barber's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barber ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 77% of towns
Where Barber ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Household income$53,102 median, better than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Barber
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barber home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $53,102; 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 Barber'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 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 Barber
Barber runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Barber.
Who works in Barber, and how
Work in Barber 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Barber
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barber.
What the weather is like in Barber, month by month
Barber sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Barber
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Barber
Schools across Barber average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mt Ulla ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Rowan MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barber school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barber 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 Barber against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Barber
Is Barber a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barber ranks 28,313th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and cell coverage, and lowest on an overheated housing market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barber expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,200. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $53,102 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Barber safe?
Barber is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $385 per resident a year.
Compare Barber with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barber. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barber 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.
Barber detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barber: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barber: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barber: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barber: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barber 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.