Best PlacesCherokee County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cherokee County, 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.
Cherokee County ranks 1,605th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cherokee 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.
Cherokee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cherokee County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 86% of counties
Where Cherokee County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 7% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cherokee County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cherokee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $57,757; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Cherokee County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Cherokee County
Cherokee County 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 Cherokee County.
Who works in Cherokee County, and how
Work in Cherokee County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cherokee County
Cherokee County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cherokee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cherokee County growing, and who is moving in?
Cherokee County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Orlando, FL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cherokee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cherokee County, month by month
Cherokee County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Cherokee County
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cherokee County
Schools across Cherokee County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hiwassee Dam Elementary/middleA · 68% proficient
- Peachtree ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Martins Creek Elementary/midB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Murphy MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Andrews MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Tri-county Early College HighA− · 65% proficient
- Andrews HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Murphy HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cherokee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cherokee 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 Cherokee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cherokee County suits
Common questions about living in Cherokee County
Is Cherokee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cherokee County ranks 1,605th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, health care access, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cherokee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,725. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $57,757 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Cherokee County safe?
Yes, Cherokee County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $345 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cherokee County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 29. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
Is Cherokee County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $705 a month.
Compare Cherokee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cherokee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cherokee 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.
Cherokee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cherokee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cherokee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cherokee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cherokee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cherokee 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.