Best PlacesBessemer City, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bessemer City, 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.
Bessemer City ranks 26,556th 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 Bessemer City
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.
Bessemer City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bessemer City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap childcare$626 a month, better than 76% of towns
Where Bessemer City ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 24% of towns
- Household income$58,939 median, better than only 25% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bessemer City
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bessemer City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,939, 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 Bessemer City's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bessemer City
Bessemer City's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bessemer City.
Who works in Bessemer City, and how
Work in Bessemer City centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bessemer City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bessemer City.
What the weather is like in Bessemer City, month by month
Bessemer City sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 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 | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Bessemer City
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 20 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 Bessemer City
Schools across Bessemer City average a B, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Costner ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- W B Beam Intermediate SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Cherryville ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Chavis Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- W C Friday Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Southwest MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Bessemer City HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bessemer City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bessemer City 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 Bessemer City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bessemer City
Is Bessemer City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bessemer City ranks 26,556th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and good schools, and lowest on an overheated housing market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bessemer City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $223,101. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $58,939 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Bessemer City safe?
Yes, Bessemer City is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Bessemer City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bessemer City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bessemer City 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.
Bessemer City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bessemer City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bessemer City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bessemer City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bessemer City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bessemer City 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.