Best PlacesDillingham, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dillingham, 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.
Dillingham ranks 37,214th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dillingham
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.
Dillingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dillingham ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
Where Dillingham ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$37,263 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dillingham
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dillingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $37,263, 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 Dillingham's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dillingham
Dillingham'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 Dillingham.
Who works in Dillingham, and how
Work in Dillingham centers on hospitality & food and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dillingham
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dillingham.
What the weather is like in Dillingham, month by month
Dillingham sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Dillingham
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dillingham
Schools across Dillingham average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Toe ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Black Mountain PrimaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Williams ElementaryC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Yancey MiddleA · 63% proficient
- North Windy Ridge IntermediateA · 62% proficient
- Owen MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- North Buncombe HighA− · 60% proficient
- Mountain Heritage HighA− · 60% proficient
- Middle CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dillingham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dillingham 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 Dillingham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dillingham
Is Dillingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dillingham ranks 37,214th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, a strong job market, and state finances, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dillingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,037. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $37,263 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Dillingham safe?
Dillingham is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $430 per resident a year.
Compare Dillingham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dillingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dillingham 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.
Dillingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dillingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dillingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dillingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dillingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dillingham 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.