Best PlacesCornelius, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cornelius, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cornelius ranks 127th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cornelius
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.
Cornelius' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cornelius ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of cities
Where Cornelius ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 32% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,135 a month, better than only 41% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 80 pleasant days a year, better than only 44% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cornelius
A household needs to earn about $174,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cornelius home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $122,169, 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 Cornelius' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Cornelius
Cornelius 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 Cornelius.
Who works in Cornelius, and how
Work in Cornelius centers on finance & insurance and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cornelius
Cornelius has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Cornelius and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cornelius, month by month
Cornelius sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Cornelius
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cornelius
Schools across Cornelius average an A, better than 95% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Heights ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Davidson K-8 SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Cornelius ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- The Brawley SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Bailey MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- William Amos Hough HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Lake Norman HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cornelius school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cornelius 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 Cornelius against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cornelius suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 28% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cornelius
Is Cornelius a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cornelius ranks 127th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cornelius expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $682,834. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $122,169 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Cornelius safe?
Cornelius is safer than 45% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $356 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cornelius?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 34. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of cities.
Is Cornelius good for families?
Schools beat 95% of cities, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,135 a month.
Compare Cornelius with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cornelius. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cornelius 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.
Cornelius detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cornelius: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cornelius: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cornelius: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cornelius: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cornelius 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.