Best PlacesCary, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cary, 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.
Cary ranks 47,458th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cary
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.
Cary's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cary ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 71% of towns
- QuietBetter than 69% of towns
Where Cary ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Short commute38.8 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of towns
Who lives in Cary
Cary runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Cary.
Who works in Cary, and how
Work in Cary centers on transportation & warehousing and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 30%
Life in Cary
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cary.
What the weather is like in Cary, month by month
Cary sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Cary
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cary
Schools across Cary average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Page School CenterC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Bell County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cary school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cary 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 Cary against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cary
Is Cary a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cary ranks 47,458th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and tree cover, and lowest on health outcomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cary safe?
Cary is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cary?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 29. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of towns.
Compare Cary with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cary. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cary 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.
Cary detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cary: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cary: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cary: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cary: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cary 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.
- 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.