Best PlacesFallston, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fallston, 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.
Fallston ranks 22,790th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fallston
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.
Fallston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fallston ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 73% of towns
Where Fallston ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 23% of towns
- Household income$58,882 median, better than only 25% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fallston
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fallston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,882, 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 Fallston's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fallston
Fallston runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fallston.
Who works in Fallston, and how
Work in Fallston centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fallston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fallston.
What the weather is like in Fallston, month by month
Fallston sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Fallston
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 35 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Fallston
Schools across Fallston average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fallston ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Union ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burns MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fallston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fallston 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 Fallston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fallston
Is Fallston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fallston ranks 22,790th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cell coverage, and lowest on education levels and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fallston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,875. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $58,882 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Fallston safe?
Fallston is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Fallston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fallston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fallston 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.
Fallston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fallston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fallston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fallston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fallston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fallston 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.