Best PlacesDavidson, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Davidson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Davidson ranks 57th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Davidson
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.
Davidson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Davidson ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$163,004 median, better than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of towns
Where Davidson ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,094 a month, better than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 32% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 80 pleasant days a year, better than only 46% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Davidson
A household needs to earn about $158,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Davidson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $163,004, 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's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Davidson
Davidson runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Davidson.
Who works in Davidson, and how
Work in Davidson centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Davidson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Davidson.
What the weather is like in Davidson, month by month
Davidson 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 Davidson
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 20 miles away.
The best schools in and around Davidson
Schools across Davidson average an A+, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Davidson K-8 SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Coddle Creek ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Cornelius ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- The Brawley SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Harris Road MiddleA+ · 80% proficient
- Bailey MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- William Amos Hough HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Cabarrus-kannapolis Early CollA+ · 80% proficient
- Lake Norman HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Davidson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Davidson 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Davidson suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 28% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Davidson
Is Davidson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Davidson ranks 57th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Davidson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $615,256. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $163,004 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Davidson safe?
Yes, Davidson is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Davidson?
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 46% of towns.
Is Davidson good for families?
Schools beat 97% of towns, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,094 a month.
Compare Davidson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Davidson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Davidson 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Davidson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Davidson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Davidson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Davidson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Davidson 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.