Best PlacesFranklin, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Franklin, 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.
Franklin ranks 1,418th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Franklin
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.
Franklin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Franklin ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of cities
Where Franklin ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Franklin
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Franklin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $59,334; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Franklin's effective rate of 0.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Franklin
Franklin 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 Franklin.
Who works in Franklin, and how
Work in Franklin centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Franklin
Franklin has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Franklin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Franklin, month by month
Franklin sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Franklin
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Franklin
Schools across Franklin average a B+, better than 88% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hayesville ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Cartoogechaye ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- South Macon ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Macon Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Hayesville MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Mountain View IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Macon Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Hayesville HighA− · 63% proficient
- Franklin HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Franklin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Franklin 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 Franklin against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Franklin suits
Common questions about living in Franklin
Is Franklin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Franklin ranks 1,418th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Franklin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,278. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $59,334 median income, cost of living beats 11% of cities.
Is Franklin safe?
Yes, Franklin is safer than 57% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $383 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Franklin?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 28. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of cities.
Is Franklin good for families?
Schools beat 88% of cities, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $785 a month.
Compare Franklin with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Franklin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Franklin 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.
Franklin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Franklin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Franklin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Franklin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Franklin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Franklin 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.