Best PlacesBloomington, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bloomington, 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.
Bloomington ranks 18,152nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bloomington
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.
Bloomington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bloomington ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Bloomington ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
- Short commute32.6 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bloomington
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bloomington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,659, 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 Bloomington's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Bloomington
Bloomington 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 Bloomington.
Who works in Bloomington, and how
Work in Bloomington centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bloomington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bloomington.
What the weather is like in Bloomington, month by month
Bloomington sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Bloomington
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 35 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bloomington
Schools across Bloomington average a B+, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Locust ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Stanly Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bloomington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bloomington 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 Bloomington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bloomington
Is Bloomington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bloomington ranks 18,152nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather 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 Bloomington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,500. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $59,659 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Bloomington safe?
Yes, Bloomington is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare Bloomington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bloomington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bloomington 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.
Bloomington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bloomington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bloomington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bloomington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bloomington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bloomington 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.