Best PlacesGaston County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gaston County, 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.
Gaston County ranks 676th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on good schools and state finances. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, the weather, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Gaston County
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.
The best areas in Gaston County
The parts of Gaston County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Belmont & Cramerton
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Mount Holly & Stanley
It is quieter and fewer homes sit empty.
Gastonia
Scores close to Mount Holly & Stanley, except that prices have run up more here.
Dallas
Crime runs lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Cherryville & Bessemer City
Homes cost less, though advertised internet is slower.
Lowell
Scores close to Cherryville & Bessemer City, except that biking is better here.
Ranlo
Fewer residents vote and health care is harder to reach.
Gaston County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Gaston County's strengths and weaknesses
Gaston County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Good schools, state finances, and fast internet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, the weather, and long commutes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Gaston County ranks high
- School gradeB+, better than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Gaston County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of counties
- Short commute27.0 minutes each way, better than only 30% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 31% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gaston County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gaston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,042, 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 Gaston County's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Gaston County
Gaston County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gaston County.
Who works in Gaston County, and how
Work in Gaston County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gaston County
Gaston County has less late-night activity than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Gaston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gaston County growing, and who is moving in?
Gaston County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Charlotte, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gaston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gaston County, month by month
Gaston County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Gaston County
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 12 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 Gaston County
Schools across Gaston County average a B+, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hawks Nest Steam AcademyA+ · 77% proficient
- Crowders Creek ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Belmont Central ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cramerton MiddleA+ · 77% proficient
- Oakridge MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Belmont MiddleA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Highland Sch Of TechnologyA+ · 97% proficient
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gaston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gaston County 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 Gaston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Gaston County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Gaston County
Is Gaston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gaston County ranks 676th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gaston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $269,041. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $74,042 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Gaston County safe?
Yes, Gaston County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gaston County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Gaston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Belmont & Cramerton, Mount Holly & Stanley, and Gastonia. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Gaston County good for families?
Schools beat 92% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $626 a month.
Is Gaston County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 67% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 82% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Gaston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gaston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gaston County 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.
Gaston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gaston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gaston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gaston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gaston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gaston County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.