Best PlacesForest, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest, 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.
Forest ranks 45,448th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Forest
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.
Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Forest ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Forest
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,223, 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 Forest's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Forest
Forest 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 Forest.
Who works in Forest, and how
Work in Forest centers on public administration and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Forest
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Forest.
What the weather is like in Forest, month by month
Forest 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 Forest
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forest
Schools across Forest average a B, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bridgeton ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Oaks Road AcademyD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Craven MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Craven Early College HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest 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 Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Forest
Is Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest ranks 45,448th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on a weak job market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,850. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $60,223 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Forest safe?
Forest is safer than 25% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
Compare Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest 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.
Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest 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.