Best PlacesChatham County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chatham County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Chatham County ranks 121st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chatham 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 Chatham County
The parts of Chatham 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.
Durham, Chapel Hill & Cary
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Pittsboro
Fewer households have young kids and prices have run up more.
Siler City
Health care is harder to reach and fewer residents vote.
Chatham County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Chatham County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chatham County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- Household income$106,027 median, better than 94% of counties
Where Chatham County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of counties
- Short commute28.4 minutes each way, better than only 23% of counties
- Cheap childcare$925 a month, better than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chatham County
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chatham County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,027, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Chatham County's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chatham County
Chatham County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chatham County.
Who works in Chatham County, and how
Work in Chatham County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Chatham County
Chatham County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chatham County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chatham County growing, and who is moving in?
Chatham County has grown about 26% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Chapel Hill, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chatham County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chatham County, month by month
Chatham County sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Chatham County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Chatham County
Schools across Chatham County average a B+, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chatham Grove ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Willow Oak MontessoriA · 65% proficient
- Bennett SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Margaret B. Pollard MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Horton MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Chatham MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Chatham School Of Science & EngineeringA+ · 90% proficient
- Northwood HighA · 70% proficient
- Chatham Central HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chatham County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chatham 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 Chatham County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chatham County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Chatham County
Is Chatham County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chatham County ranks 121st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and health care access, 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 Chatham County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $464,843. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $106,027 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Chatham County safe?
Yes, Chatham County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chatham County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 47% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chatham County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Durham, Chapel Hill & Cary, Pittsboro, and Siler City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Chatham County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chatham County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chatham 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.
Chatham County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chatham County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chatham County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chatham County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chatham County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chatham 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.