Best PlacesEmerson, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Emerson, 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.
Emerson ranks 42,512th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Emerson
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.
Emerson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Emerson ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap childcare$619 a month, better than 77% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 75% of towns
Where Emerson ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Emerson
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Emerson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,667, 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 Emerson's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Emerson
Emerson runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Emerson.
Who works in Emerson, and how
Work in Emerson centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Emerson
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Emerson, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Emerson, month by month
Emerson sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Emerson
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Emerson
Schools across Emerson average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Williams TownshipC+ · 37% proficient
- Tabor City ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Elizabethtown PrimaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarkton School Of DiscoveryC · 33% proficient
- Tabor City MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
- Elizabethtown MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- South Columbus HighB · 47% proficient
- East Bladen HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Emerson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Emerson 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 Emerson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Emerson
Is Emerson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Emerson ranks 42,512th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, fast internet, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Emerson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,919. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $58,667 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Emerson safe?
Emerson is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $504 per resident a year.
Compare Emerson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Emerson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Emerson 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.
Emerson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Emerson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Emerson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Emerson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Emerson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Emerson 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.