Best PlacesDurham County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Durham County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Durham County ranks 171st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $92,215, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Durham 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 Durham County
The parts of Durham 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.
Durham
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Morrisville
Tree cover is thinner and fewer households have young kids.
Butner
Biking is worse and crime runs higher.
Durham County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Durham County's strengths and weaknesses
Durham County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. Transit and fast internet follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, noise, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Durham County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
Where Durham County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,197 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 78 pleasant days a year, better than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Durham County
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Durham County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,215, 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 Durham County's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Durham County
Durham County runs younger than the country, 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 Durham County.
Who works in Durham County, and how
Work in Durham County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Durham County
Durham County has more late-night spots per resident than 66% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Durham County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Durham County growing, and who is moving in?
Durham County has grown about 16% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Raleigh, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Durham County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Durham County, month by month
Durham County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Durham County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Durham County
Schools across Durham County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pearsontown ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- George Watts ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Mangum ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakewood Montessori MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Rogers-herr MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Discovery CharterB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Middle College Hs @ DtccA+ · 80% proficient
- City Of Medicine AcademyA · 78% proficient
- Research Triangle High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Durham County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Durham 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 Durham County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Durham County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Durham County
Is Durham County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Durham County ranks 171st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, transit, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Durham County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $406,738. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $92,215 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is Durham County safe?
Durham County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $524 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Durham County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Durham County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Durham, Morrisville, and Butner. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Durham County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 22%, and childcare runs $1,197 a month.
Is Durham County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 96% of counties. About 22% of workers already work from home.
Compare Durham County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Durham County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Durham 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.
Durham County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Durham County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Durham County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Durham County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Durham County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Durham 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.