Best PlacesCycle, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cycle, 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.
Cycle ranks 31,046th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cycle
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.
Cycle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cycle ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 82% of towns
Where Cycle ranks low
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cycle
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cycle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,409, 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 Cycle's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cycle
Cycle runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cycle.
Who works in Cycle, and how
Work in Cycle centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Cycle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cycle.
What the weather is like in Cycle, month by month
Cycle sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Cycle
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cycle
Schools across Cycle average a B+, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ronda-clingman Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- West Yadkin ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Wilkes Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkes Early College High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Starmount HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cycle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cycle 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 Cycle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cycle
Is Cycle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cycle ranks 31,046th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on long commutes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cycle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,952. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,409 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Cycle safe?
Yes, Cycle is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
Compare Cycle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cycle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cycle 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.
Cycle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cycle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cycle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cycle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cycle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cycle 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.