Best PlacesGastonia, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gastonia, 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.
Gastonia ranks 260th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on biking and walkability. It does better on affordable childcare, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Gastonia
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.
Gastonia's strengths and weaknesses
Gastonia lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Affordable childcare, tree cover, and state finances carry most of that.
The one real hole is biking, near the bottom of the country. Walkability and health outcomes also cost it ground. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Gastonia ranks high
- Cheap childcare$626 a month, better than 97% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 93% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of cities
Where Gastonia ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Gastonia
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gastonia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,628, 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 Gastonia's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gastonia
Gastonia'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 Gastonia.
Who works in Gastonia, and how
Work in Gastonia 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 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gastonia
Gastonia has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gastonia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gastonia, month by month
Gastonia sees roughly 72 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 Gastonia
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 Gastonia
Schools across Gastonia average a B+, better than 91% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hawks Nest Steam AcademyA+ · 77% proficient
- Crowders Creek ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- W A Bess Elementary SchoolA · 64% 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
- Clover HighA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gastonia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gastonia 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 Gastonia against the other 444 cities.
Who Gastonia suits
Common questions about living in Gastonia
Is Gastonia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gastonia ranks 260th of 445 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and state finances, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gastonia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,660. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $71,628 median income, cost of living beats 38% of cities.
Is Gastonia safe?
Gastonia is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $479 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gastonia?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of cities.
Is Gastonia good for families?
Schools beat 91% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $626 a month.
Is Gastonia good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 38% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 55% of cities. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Gastonia with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gastonia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gastonia 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.
Gastonia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gastonia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gastonia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gastonia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gastonia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gastonia 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.