Best PlacesCleveland County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cleveland County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cleveland County ranks 1,265th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cleveland 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 Cleveland County
The parts of Cleveland 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.
Boiling Springs
More adults hold degrees, health outcomes score higher, and it is quieter.
Cherryville
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Kings Mountain & Grover
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Lawndale
Fewer households have young kids and commutes are longer.
Shelby
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
Scores across Cleveland County run from about the 10th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Cleveland County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cleveland County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 72% of counties
Where Cleveland County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 23% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 27% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 78 pleasant days a year, better than only 35% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cleveland County
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cleveland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,167, 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 Cleveland County'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 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 Cleveland County
Cleveland County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cleveland County.
Who works in Cleveland County, and how
Work in Cleveland County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cleveland County
Cleveland County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cleveland County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cleveland County growing, and who is moving in?
Cleveland County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charlotte, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cleveland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cleveland County, month by month
Cleveland County sees roughly 78 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° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Cleveland County
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 32 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Cleveland County
Schools across Cleveland County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Casar ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Springmore ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- East ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burns MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Kings Mountain MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Crest MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
- Kings Mountain HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cleveland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cleveland 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 Cleveland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cleveland County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Cleveland County
Is Cleveland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cleveland County ranks 1,265th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on walkability and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cleveland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $203,074. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $64,167 median income, cost of living beats 39% of counties.
Is Cleveland County safe?
Cleveland County is safer than 23% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cleveland County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Cleveland County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Boiling Springs, Cherryville, and Kings Mountain & Grover. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Cleveland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cleveland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cleveland 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.
Cleveland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cleveland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cleveland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cleveland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cleveland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cleveland 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.