Best PlacesEast Laurinburg, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Laurinburg, 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 Laurinburg ranks 48,930th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in East Laurinburg
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 Laurinburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Laurinburg ranks high
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$604 a month, better than 78% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 77% of towns
Where East Laurinburg ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$39,349 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Laurinburg
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Laurinburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $39,349, 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 East Laurinburg's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 2 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 Laurinburg
East Laurinburg runs younger than the country, 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 East Laurinburg.
Who works in East Laurinburg, and how
Work in East Laurinburg centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in East Laurinburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across East Laurinburg.
What the weather is like in East Laurinburg, month by month
East Laurinburg sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 44° | 32° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 49° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of East Laurinburg
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 35 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 East Laurinburg
Schools across East Laurinburg average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Johnson ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Wagram ElementaryD+ · 22% proficient
- Sycamore Lane ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spring Hill MiddleB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Scotland High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Laurinburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Laurinburg 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 Laurinburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Laurinburg
Is East Laurinburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Laurinburg ranks 48,930th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Laurinburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $75,337. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $39,349 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is East Laurinburg safe?
East Laurinburg is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $977 per resident a year.
Compare East Laurinburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Laurinburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Laurinburg 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 Laurinburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Laurinburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Laurinburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Laurinburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Laurinburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Laurinburg 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.