Best PlacesCentral Area, Eden, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Area, Eden, 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.
Central Area, Eden ranks 4,038th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central Area, Eden
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.
Central Area, Eden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Area, Eden ranks high
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Central Area, Eden ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central Area, Eden
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Area, Eden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,346, 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 Central Area, Eden's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central Area, Eden
Central Area, Eden 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 Central Area, Eden.
Who works in Central Area, Eden, and how
Work in Central Area, Eden centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Central Area, Eden
Central Area, Eden has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Central Area, Eden and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Area, Eden, month by month
Central Area, Eden sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Central Area, Eden
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Area, Eden
Schools across Central Area, Eden average a B+, better than 88% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Central ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Leaksville-spray ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- J E Holmes MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockingham Co Early College HighA+ · 91% proficient
- John M Morehead HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Area, Eden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Area, Eden 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 Central Area, Eden against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Central Area, Eden
Is Central Area, Eden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Area, Eden ranks 4,038th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Area, Eden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,054. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $46,346 median income, cost of living beats 26% of neighborhoods.
Is Central Area, Eden safe?
Central Area, Eden is safer than 52% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $508 per resident a year.
Compare Central Area, Eden with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Area, Eden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Area, Eden 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.
Central Area, Eden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Area, Eden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Area, Eden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Area, Eden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Area, Eden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Area, Eden 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.