Best PlacesBeaufort County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Beaufort County, 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.
Beaufort County ranks 2,509th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Beaufort 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.
Beaufort County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Beaufort County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of counties
- QuietBetter than 75% of counties
Where Beaufort County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 23% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Beaufort County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Beaufort County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,759, 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 Beaufort County's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 Beaufort County
Beaufort County runs older 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 Beaufort County.
Who works in Beaufort County, and how
Work in Beaufort County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Beaufort County
Beaufort County has more late-night spots per resident than 69% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Beaufort County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Beaufort County growing, and who is moving in?
Beaufort County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Greenville, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Beaufort County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Beaufort County, month by month
Beaufort County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Beaufort County
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Beaufort County
Schools across Beaufort County average a B−, better than 66% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- ChicodA · 69% proficient
- Chocowinity PrimaryA · 65% proficient
- Bath ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- P S Jones MiddleB · 45% proficient
- Chocowinity MiddleB · 43% proficient
- West Craven MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Beaufort Co Early College HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Northside HighB− · 43% proficient
- Pamlico County HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Beaufort County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Beaufort 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 Beaufort County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Beaufort County suits
Common questions about living in Beaufort County
Is Beaufort County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Beaufort County ranks 2,509th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Beaufort County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,872. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $63,759 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Beaufort County safe?
Beaufort County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $487 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Beaufort County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 35. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
Is Beaufort County good for families?
Schools beat 66% of counties, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $772 a month.
Compare Beaufort County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Beaufort County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Beaufort 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.
Beaufort County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Beaufort County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Beaufort County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Beaufort County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Beaufort County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Beaufort 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.