Best PlacesBarclay Downs, Charlotte, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barclay Downs, Charlotte, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Barclay Downs, Charlotte ranks 126th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Barclay Downs, Charlotte
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.
Barclay Downs, Charlotte's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barclay Downs, Charlotte ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
Where Barclay Downs, Charlotte ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 33% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Barclay Downs, Charlotte
A household needs to earn about $230,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Barclay Downs, Charlotte home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $143,866, 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 Barclay Downs, Charlotte's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Barclay Downs, Charlotte
Barclay Downs, Charlotte runs younger 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 Barclay Downs, Charlotte.
Who works in Barclay Downs, Charlotte, and how
Work in Barclay Downs, Charlotte centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 53%
- Work from home 39%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Barclay Downs, Charlotte
Barclay Downs, Charlotte has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Barclay Downs, Charlotte and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Barclay Downs, Charlotte, month by month
Barclay Downs, Charlotte sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Barclay Downs, Charlotte
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Barclay Downs, Charlotte
Schools across Barclay Downs, Charlotte average an A+, better than 99% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Selwyn ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Sharon ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alexander Graham MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Levine Middle College High SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Myers Park High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barclay Downs, Charlotte school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barclay Downs, Charlotte 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 Barclay Downs, Charlotte against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Barclay Downs, Charlotte
Is Barclay Downs, Charlotte a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barclay Downs, Charlotte ranks 126th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barclay Downs, Charlotte expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $886,739. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $143,866 median income, cost of living beats 98% of neighborhoods.
Is Barclay Downs, Charlotte safe?
Barclay Downs, Charlotte is safer than 33% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $760 per resident a year.
Compare Barclay Downs, Charlotte with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barclay Downs, Charlotte. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barclay Downs, Charlotte 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.
Barclay Downs, Charlotte detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barclay Downs, Charlotte: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barclay Downs, Charlotte: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barclay Downs, Charlotte: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barclay Downs, Charlotte: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barclay Downs, Charlotte 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.