Best PlacesCherry Point, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cherry Point, 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.
Cherry Point ranks 17,624th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cherry Point
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.
Cherry Point's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cherry Point ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute12.5 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
Where Cherry Point ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cherry Point
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cherry Point home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,276, 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 Cherry Point's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cherry Point
Cherry Point runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cherry Point.
Who works in Cherry Point, and how
Work in Cherry Point centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Cherry Point
The coast is about 31 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Cherry Point, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cherry Point, month by month
Cherry Point sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Cherry Point
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cherry Point
Schools across Cherry Point average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- W Jesse Gurganus ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Arthur W Edwards ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Roger Bell New Tech AcademyC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tucker Creek MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Havelock MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College East HighA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cherry Point school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cherry Point 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 Cherry Point against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cherry Point
Is Cherry Point a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cherry Point ranks 17,624th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, short commutes, and good schools, and lowest on disaster risk and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cherry Point expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,200. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,276 median income, cost of living beats 37% of towns.
Is Cherry Point safe?
Cherry Point is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
Compare Cherry Point with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cherry Point. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cherry Point 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.
Cherry Point detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cherry Point: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cherry Point: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cherry Point: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cherry Point: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cherry Point 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.