Best PlacesBuncombe, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buncombe, 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.
Buncombe ranks 44,350th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buncombe
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.
Buncombe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buncombe ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap childcare$705 a month, better than 64% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 63% of towns
Where Buncombe ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buncombe
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buncombe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,047, 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 Buncombe's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buncombe
Buncombe runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buncombe.
Who works in Buncombe, and how
Work in Buncombe centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Buncombe
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buncombe.
What the weather is like in Buncombe, month by month
Buncombe sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Buncombe
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buncombe
Schools across Buncombe average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Vienna Elem School Dist 55C+ · 36% proficient
- Tri-c Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Goreville Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carterville Intermediate SchC · 35% proficient
- Anna Junior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Carterville High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Goreville High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Vienna High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buncombe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buncombe 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 Buncombe against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buncombe
Is Buncombe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buncombe ranks 44,350th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buncombe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,998. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $61,047 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Buncombe safe?
Buncombe is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
Compare Buncombe with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buncombe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buncombe 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.
Buncombe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buncombe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buncombe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buncombe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buncombe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buncombe 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.