Best PlacesBrunswick County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brunswick County, 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.
Brunswick County ranks 1,008th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on health care access and a strong job market. The weaker spots are disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Brunswick 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.
The best areas in Brunswick County
The parts of Brunswick County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Leland & Winnabow
Fewer homes sit empty, crime runs lower, and local pay stretches further.
Supply, St. James & Bolivia
It is quieter, though heat risk is higher.
Oak Island
Fewer households have young kids and prices have run up more.
Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach & Calabash
Health care is easier to reach.
Shallotte
Tree cover is thicker, though incomes run lower.
Southport
Commutes are longer.
Brunswick County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Brunswick County's strengths and weaknesses
Brunswick County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Health care access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. A strong job market and civic engagement follow.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and summer heat also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Brunswick County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 99% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
Where Brunswick County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brunswick County
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brunswick County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $80,716, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Brunswick County's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Brunswick County
Brunswick County 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 Brunswick County.
Who works in Brunswick County, and how
Work in Brunswick County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Brunswick County
Brunswick County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 15 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brunswick County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brunswick County growing, and who is moving in?
Brunswick County has grown about 41% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Wilmington, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brunswick County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brunswick County, month by month
Brunswick County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 73° | 64° | 56° |
| July | 89° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 77° | 68° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Brunswick County
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brunswick County
Schools across Brunswick County average an A−, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Union ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
- Dr Hubert Eaton Sr ElemA+ · 78% proficient
- Classical Charter Schools Of LelandA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shallotte MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- South Brunswick MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Town Creek MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
- Wilmington Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- South Brunswick HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brunswick County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brunswick 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 Brunswick County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Brunswick County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Brunswick County
Is Brunswick County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brunswick County ranks 1,008th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Brunswick County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $361,668. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,716 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Brunswick County safe?
Yes, Brunswick County is safer than 82% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brunswick County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 39. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Brunswick County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Leland & Winnabow, Supply, St. James & Bolivia, and Oak Island. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Brunswick County good for families?
Schools beat 96% of counties, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $784 a month.
Is Brunswick County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 84% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Brunswick County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brunswick County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brunswick 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.
Brunswick County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brunswick County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brunswick County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brunswick County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brunswick County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brunswick 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.