Best PlacesBladen County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bladen County, 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.
Bladen County ranks 2,843rd 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 Bladen 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.
Bladen County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bladen County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap childcare$526 a month, better than 86% of counties
- QuietBetter than 84% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
Where Bladen County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of counties
- Household income$52,590 median, better than only 12% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bladen County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bladen County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,590, 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 Bladen County's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bladen County
Bladen County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bladen County.
Who works in Bladen County, and how
Work in Bladen County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bladen County
Bladen County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 69 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bladen County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bladen County growing, and who is moving in?
Bladen County has lost about 13% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus County, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bladen County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bladen County, month by month
Bladen County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Bladen County
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bladen County
Schools across Bladen County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Gray's Creek ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
- Emereau: BladenB− · 44% proficient
- Plain View PrimaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gray's Creek MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Clarkton School Of DiscoveryC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Gray's Creek HighB+ · 56% proficient
- East Bladen HighC+ · 40% proficient
- East Columbus Junior-senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bladen County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bladen 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 Bladen County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bladen County suits
Common questions about living in Bladen County
Is Bladen County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bladen County ranks 2,843rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bladen County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,842. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $52,590 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Bladen County safe?
Bladen County is safer than 12% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $621 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bladen County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 37. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
Is Bladen County good for families?
Schools beat 25% of counties, crime safety beats 12%, and childcare runs $526 a month.
Compare Bladen County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bladen County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bladen 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.
Bladen County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bladen County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bladen County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bladen County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bladen County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bladen 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.