Best PlacesElizabeth City, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elizabeth City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elizabeth City ranks 1,744th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elizabeth City
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 Elizabeth City
The parts of Elizabeth City, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Riverside
Historic Elizabeth City
Sawyertown
Scores across Elizabeth City run from about the 2nd to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Elizabeth City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elizabeth City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap childcare$661 a month, better than 92% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of cities
Where Elizabeth City ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Elizabeth City
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elizabeth City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,992, 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 Elizabeth City's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Elizabeth City.
Who works in Elizabeth City, and how
Work in Elizabeth City 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 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Elizabeth City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elizabeth City, month by month
Elizabeth City sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Elizabeth City
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elizabeth City
Schools across Elizabeth City average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Grandy PrimaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Weeksville ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Central ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Camden IntermediateA · 60% proficient
- River Road MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Elizabeth City MiddleC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Elizabeth City Pasquotank Early CollegeA · 70% proficient
- Camden County HighA− · 63% proficient
- Northeast Academy Of Aerospace & AdvtechB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elizabeth City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elizabeth City 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 Elizabeth City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Elizabeth City suits
Common questions about living in Elizabeth City
Is Elizabeth City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elizabeth City ranks 1,744th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and affordable childcare, and lowest on cell coverage and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elizabeth City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,504. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,992 median income, cost of living beats 25% of cities.
Is Elizabeth City safe?
Elizabeth City is safer than 28% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elizabeth City?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 32. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Elizabeth City?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Riverside, Historic Elizabeth City, and Sawyertown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Elizabeth City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elizabeth City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elizabeth City 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.
Elizabeth City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elizabeth City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elizabeth City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elizabeth City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elizabeth City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elizabeth City 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.