Best PlacesGates County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gates County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Gates County ranks 1,886th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gates 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.
Gates County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gates County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of counties
Where Gates County ranks low
- Short commute41.7 minutes each way, better than only 1% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gates County
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gates County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,857, 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 Gates County'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gates County
Gates County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gates County.
Who works in Gates County, and how
Work in Gates County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gates County
Gates County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 60 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Gates County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gates County growing, and who is moving in?
Gates County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Virginia Beach, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gates County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gates County, month by month
Gates County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Gates County
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gates County
Schools across Gates County average a B−, better than 65% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Gatesville ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Buckland ElementaryC · 32% proficient
- T S Cooper ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Perquimans County MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Chowan MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin HighB+ · 58% proficient
- Gates County Senior HighB · 50% proficient
- Cs Brown High - Stem ProgramB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gates County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gates 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 Gates County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gates County
Is Gates County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gates County ranks 1,886th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and state finances, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gates County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,350. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,857 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Gates County safe?
Gates County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $394 per resident a year.
Compare Gates County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gates County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gates 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.
Gates County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gates County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gates County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gates County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gates County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gates 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.