Best PlacesCaldwell County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Caldwell 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.
Caldwell County ranks 1,229th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Caldwell 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 Caldwell County
The parts of Caldwell 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.
Granite Falls
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Sawmills
Tree cover is thinner and prices have run up more.
Gamewell
More households have young kids, though more homes sit empty.
Lenoir
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Hudson & Cajahs Mountain
Scores close to Lenoir, except that homes cost less here.
Caldwell County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Caldwell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Caldwell County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of counties
Where Caldwell County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 23% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 26% of counties
- Household income$61,897 median, better than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Caldwell County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Caldwell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,897, 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 Caldwell County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Caldwell County
Caldwell County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Caldwell County.
Who works in Caldwell County, and how
Work in Caldwell County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Caldwell County
Caldwell County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Caldwell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Caldwell County growing, and who is moving in?
Caldwell County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Hickory, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Caldwell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Caldwell County, month by month
Caldwell County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Caldwell County
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 55 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Caldwell County
Schools across Caldwell County average a B+, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Granite Falls ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Collettsville SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Baton ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hudson MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- William Lenoir MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Granite Falls MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Caldwell Early CollegeA · 77% proficient
- Caldwell Applied Sciences AcademyA− · 63% proficient
- South Caldwell HighB · 46% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Caldwell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Caldwell 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 Caldwell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Caldwell County suits
Common questions about living in Caldwell County
Is Caldwell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Caldwell County ranks 1,229th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on walkability 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 Caldwell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,828. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $61,897 median income, cost of living beats 32% of counties.
Is Caldwell County safe?
Yes, Caldwell County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Caldwell County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 30. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Caldwell County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Granite Falls, Sawmills, and Gamewell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Caldwell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Caldwell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Caldwell 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.
Caldwell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Caldwell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Caldwell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Caldwell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Caldwell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Caldwell 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.