Best PlacesDavidson County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Davidson 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.
Davidson County ranks 956th 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 state finances and cheap car insurance. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, walkability, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Davidson 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 Davidson County
The parts of Davidson 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.
Winston-Salem, Midway & Wallburg
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and schools score higher.
Clemmons
It is quieter and fewer homes sit empty.
Thomasville & High Point
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Linwood
Commutes are longer and advertised internet is slower.
Denton
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Lexington
Streets are more walkable, though fewer residents vote.
Davidson County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Davidson County's strengths and weaknesses
Davidson County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, walkability, and air quality hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Davidson County to another than it does between Davidson County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Davidson County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 78% of counties
Where Davidson County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 23% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 29% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Davidson County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Davidson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,254, 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 Davidson County's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Davidson County
Davidson County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Davidson County.
Who works in Davidson County, and how
Work in Davidson County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. 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 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Davidson County
Davidson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Davidson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Davidson County growing, and who is moving in?
Davidson County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Greensboro, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Davidson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Davidson County, month by month
Davidson County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Davidson County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Davidson County
Schools across Davidson County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shady Grove ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Wallburg ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Clemmons ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hanes Magnet SchoolA · 66% proficient
- William Ellis MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Oak Grove MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Davidson Early CollegeA+ · 85% proficient
- Davie County Early College HighA+ · 83% proficient
- Oak Grove HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Davidson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Davidson 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 Davidson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Davidson County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Davidson County
Is Davidson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Davidson County ranks 956th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Davidson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,229. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,254 median income, cost of living beats 54% of counties.
Is Davidson County safe?
Yes, Davidson County is safer than 73% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Davidson County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 31. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Davidson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Winston-Salem, Midway & Wallburg, Clemmons, and Thomasville & High Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Davidson County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 73%, and childcare runs $753 a month.
Is Davidson County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 54% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Davidson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Davidson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Davidson 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.
Davidson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Davidson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Davidson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Davidson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Davidson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Davidson 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.