Best PlacesEast Flat Rock, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Flat Rock, 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.
East Flat Rock ranks 12,143rd 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 East Flat Rock
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.
East Flat Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Flat Rock ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
Where East Flat Rock ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
- Household income$55,759 median, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Flat Rock
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Flat Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $55,759; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 East Flat Rock's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Flat Rock
East Flat Rock runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for East Flat Rock.
Who works in East Flat Rock, and how
Work in East Flat Rock centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in East Flat Rock
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across East Flat Rock.
What the weather is like in East Flat Rock, month by month
East Flat Rock sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of East Flat Rock
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Flat Rock
Schools across East Flat Rock average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hendersonville ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Hillandale ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Flat Rock MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Henderson County Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- East Henderson HighA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Flat Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Flat Rock 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 East Flat Rock against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Flat Rock
Is East Flat Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Flat Rock ranks 12,143rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Flat Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,984. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $55,759 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is East Flat Rock safe?
Yes, East Flat Rock is safer than 76% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare East Flat Rock with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Flat Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Flat Rock 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.
East Flat Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Flat Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Flat Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Flat Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Flat Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Flat Rock 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.