Best PlacesCraven County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Craven County, 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.
Craven County ranks 1,655th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on good schools and state finances. The weaker spots are disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Craven 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 Craven County
The parts of Craven 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.
New Bern, Trent Woods & River Bend
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Havelock
It is quieter and crime runs lower.
James City
Streets are more walkable, though tree cover is thinner.
Vanceboro & Cove City
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Scores across Craven County run from about the 2nd to the 78th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Craven County's strengths and weaknesses
Craven County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Good schools, state finances, and fast internet carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and the weather also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Craven County ranks high
- School gradeB+, better than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 79% of counties
Where Craven County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Craven County
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Craven County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,713, 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 Craven 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Craven County
Craven County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Craven County.
Who works in Craven County, and how
Work in Craven County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Craven County
Craven County has less parkland per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 81% of counties. The coast is about 44 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Craven County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Craven County growing, and who is moving in?
Craven County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jacksonville, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Craven County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Craven County, month by month
Craven County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Craven County
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 0 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Craven County
Schools across Craven County average a B+, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- W Jesse Gurganus ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Creekside ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Albert H Bangert ElementaryA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tucker Creek MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Grover C Fields MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- H J Macdonald MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College East HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Craven Early College HighA · 75% proficient
- Havelock HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Craven County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Craven 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 Craven County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Craven County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Craven County
Is Craven County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Craven County ranks 1,655th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Craven County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,367. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,713 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Craven County safe?
Yes, Craven County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Craven County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 33. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Craven County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Bern, Trent Woods & River Bend, Havelock, and James City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Craven County good for families?
Schools beat 91% of counties, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $826 a month.
Is Craven County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 49% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Craven County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Craven County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Craven 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.
Craven County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Craven County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Craven County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Craven County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Craven County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Craven 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.