Best PlacesElizabethtown, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elizabethtown, 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.
Elizabethtown ranks 46,238th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elizabethtown
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.
Elizabethtown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elizabethtown ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$526 a month, better than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
Where Elizabethtown ranks low
- Household income$42,559 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elizabethtown
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elizabethtown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $42,559; 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 Elizabethtown's effective rate of 0.75%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown runs older 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 Elizabethtown.
Who works in Elizabethtown, and how
Work in Elizabethtown centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Elizabethtown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elizabethtown, month by month
Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elizabethtown
Schools across Elizabethtown average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plain View PrimaryC · 35% proficient
- Dublin PrimaryC · 33% proficient
- Bladen Lakes PrimaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarkton School Of DiscoveryC · 33% proficient
- Tar Heel MiddleC− · 27% proficient
- Elizabethtown MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- East Bladen HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Bladen Early CollegeC+ · 35% proficient
- West Bladen HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elizabethtown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elizabethtown
Is Elizabethtown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elizabethtown ranks 46,238th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and a strong job market, and lowest on low incomes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elizabethtown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,495. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $42,559 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Elizabethtown safe?
Elizabethtown is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $745 per resident a year.
Compare Elizabethtown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elizabethtown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elizabethtown 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.
Elizabethtown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elizabethtown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elizabethtown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elizabethtown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elizabethtown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elizabethtown 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.