Best PlacesDublin, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dublin, 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.
Dublin ranks 40,388th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dublin
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.
Dublin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dublin ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$526 a month, better than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Dublin ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Household income$48,896 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dublin
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dublin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,896, 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 Dublin's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Dublin
Dublin runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dublin.
Who works in Dublin, and how
Work in Dublin centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dublin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dublin.
What the weather is like in Dublin, month by month
Dublin sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Dublin
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dublin
Schools across Dublin average a C, better than 29% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plain View PrimaryC · 35% proficient
- East Robeson PrimaryC · 35% proficient
- Dublin PrimaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Littlefield MiddleC · 31% proficient
- Tar Heel MiddleC− · 27% proficient
- Elizabethtown MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Psrc Early College At RccA+ · 93% proficient
- East Bladen HighC+ · 40% proficient
- West Bladen HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dublin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dublin 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 Dublin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dublin
Is Dublin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dublin ranks 40,388th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and walkability, and lowest on disaster risk and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dublin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $103,929. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $48,896 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Dublin safe?
Dublin is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $416 per resident a year.
Compare Dublin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dublin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dublin 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.
Dublin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dublin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dublin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dublin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dublin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dublin 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.