Best PlacesCatawba, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Catawba, 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.
Catawba ranks 9,813th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Catawba
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.
Catawba's strengths and weaknesses
Where Catawba ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
Where Catawba ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 30% of towns
- Short commute30.6 minutes each way, better than only 30% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Catawba
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Catawba home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,568, 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 Catawba'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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Catawba
Catawba's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Catawba.
Who works in Catawba, and how
Work in Catawba centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Catawba
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Catawba.
What the weather is like in Catawba, month by month
Catawba sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Catawba
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Catawba
Schools across Catawba average an A−, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sherrills Ford ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Balls Creek ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Sharon ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oakwood Middle Ib SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Mill Creek MiddleA · 62% proficient
- River Bend MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Challenger Early College HighA+ · 94% proficient
- Crossroads Arts Sciences Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Bandys HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Catawba school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Catawba 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 Catawba against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Catawba
Is Catawba a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Catawba ranks 9,813th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and a strong job market, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Catawba expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $273,301. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $81,568 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Catawba safe?
Catawba is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
Compare Catawba with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Catawba. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Catawba 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.
Catawba detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Catawba: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Catawba: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Catawba: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Catawba: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Catawba 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.