Best PlacesGlendale Springs, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Glendale Springs, 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.
Glendale Springs ranks 25,373rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Glendale Springs
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.
Glendale Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Glendale Springs ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
Where Glendale Springs ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Household income$56,567 median, better than only 21% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Glendale Springs
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Glendale Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,567, 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 Glendale Springs' effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Glendale Springs
Glendale Springs 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 Glendale Springs.
Who works in Glendale Springs, and how
Work in Glendale Springs centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Glendale Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Glendale Springs.
What the weather is like in Glendale Springs, month by month
Glendale Springs sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Glendale Springs
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 81 miles away.
The best schools in and around Glendale Springs
Schools across Glendale Springs average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Millers Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Mountain View ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ashe County MiddleA · 67% proficient
- West Wilkes Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkes Early College High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- West Wilkes High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Ashe County HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Glendale Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Glendale Springs 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 Glendale Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Glendale Springs
Is Glendale Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Glendale Springs ranks 25,373rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, heat safety, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Glendale Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,063. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $56,567 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Glendale Springs safe?
Glendale Springs is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $416 per resident a year.
Compare Glendale Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Glendale Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Glendale Springs 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.
Glendale Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Glendale Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Glendale Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Glendale Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Glendale Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Glendale Springs 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.