Best PlacesErnul, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ernul, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ernul ranks 33,112th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ernul
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.
Ernul's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ernul ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 76% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 72% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 71% of towns
Where Ernul ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ernul
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ernul home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,003, 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 Ernul's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Ernul
Ernul runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ernul.
Who works in Ernul, and how
Work in Ernul centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ernul
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ernul.
What the weather is like in Ernul, month by month
Ernul sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Ernul
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ernul
Schools across Ernul average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bridgeton ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Vanceboro-farm Life ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Craven MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Craven Early College HighA · 75% proficient
- West Craven HighC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ernul school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ernul 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 Ernul against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ernul
Is Ernul a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ernul ranks 33,112th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ernul expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,170. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $75,003 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Ernul safe?
Ernul is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $357 per resident a year.
Compare Ernul with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ernul. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ernul 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.
Ernul detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ernul: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ernul: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ernul: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ernul: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ernul 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.