Best PlacesCisco, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cisco, 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.
Cisco ranks 41,155th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cisco
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.
Cisco's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cisco ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$587 a month, better than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
Where Cisco ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$48,642 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cisco
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cisco home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,642, 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 Cisco's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cisco
Cisco runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Cisco.
Who works in Cisco, and how
Work in Cisco centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cisco
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cisco.
What the weather is like in Cisco, month by month
Cisco sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 76° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Cisco
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cisco
Schools across Cisco average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Chowan MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- John A Holmes HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cisco school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cisco 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 Cisco against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cisco
Is Cisco a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cisco ranks 41,155th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, state finances, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cisco expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,100. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $48,642 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Cisco safe?
Cisco is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $461 per resident a year.
Compare Cisco with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cisco. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cisco 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.
Cisco detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cisco: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cisco: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cisco: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cisco: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cisco 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.