Best PlacesBowdens, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bowdens, 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.
Bowdens ranks 38,387th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bowdens
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.
Bowdens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Bowdens ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of towns
- Cheap childcare$618 a month, better than 77% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 67% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 67% of towns
Where Bowdens ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bowdens
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bowdens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,715, 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 Bowdens' effective rate of 0.78%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bowdens
Bowdens 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 Bowdens.
Who works in Bowdens, and how
Work in Bowdens centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bowdens
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bowdens.
What the weather is like in Bowdens, month by month
Bowdens sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Bowdens
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bowdens
Schools across Bowdens average a C, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hargrove ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- North Duplin ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Warsaw ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hobbton MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Sampson Early College HighA+ · 95% proficient
- North Duplin Jr Sr HighB · 46% proficient
- James Kenan HighC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bowdens school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bowdens 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 Bowdens against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bowdens
Is Bowdens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bowdens ranks 38,387th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and affordable childcare, 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 Bowdens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,858. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $60,715 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Bowdens safe?
Bowdens is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $557 per resident a year.
Compare Bowdens with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bowdens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bowdens 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.
Bowdens detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bowdens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bowdens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bowdens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bowdens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bowdens 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.