Best PlacesBottom, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bottom, 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.
Bottom ranks 21,794th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bottom
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.
Bottom's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bottom ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
Where Bottom ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bottom
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bottom home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,355, 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 Bottom's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Bottom
Bottom runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bottom.
Who works in Bottom, and how
Work in Bottom centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bottom
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bottom.
What the weather is like in Bottom, month by month
Bottom sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Bottom
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bottom
Schools across Bottom average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dobson ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Cedar Ridge ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleA · 61% proficient
- J Sam Gentry MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Surry Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bottom school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bottom 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 Bottom against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bottom
Is Bottom a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bottom ranks 21,794th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on cell coverage and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bottom expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,743. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,355 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Bottom safe?
Yes, Bottom is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
Compare Bottom with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bottom. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bottom 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.
Bottom detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bottom: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bottom: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bottom: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bottom: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bottom 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.