Best PlacesEx-Way, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ex-Way, 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.
Ex-Way ranks 38,784th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ex-Way
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.
Ex-Way's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ex-Way ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap childcare$621 a month, better than 77% of towns
Where Ex-Way ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Household income$50,130 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ex-Way
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ex-Way home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,130, 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 Ex-Way's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ex-Way
Ex-Way runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ex-Way.
Who works in Ex-Way, and how
Work in Ex-Way centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ex-Way
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ex-Way.
What the weather is like in Ex-Way, month by month
Ex-Way sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 50° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Ex-Way
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ex-Way
Schools across Ex-Way average a B, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mineral Springs ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Mount Gilead ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Candor ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- East MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Ellerbe MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- West MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Montgomery County Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Richmond Early College HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Richmond Senior HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ex-Way school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ex-Way 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 Ex-Way against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ex-Way
Is Ex-Way a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ex-Way ranks 38,784th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ex-Way expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,889. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $50,130 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Ex-Way safe?
Ex-Way is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $512 per resident a year.
Compare Ex-Way with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ex-Way. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ex-Way 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.
Ex-Way detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ex-Way: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ex-Way: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ex-Way: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ex-Way: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ex-Way 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.