Best PlacesGooseneck, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gooseneck, 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.
Gooseneck ranks 42,664th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gooseneck
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.
Gooseneck's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gooseneck ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 68% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 67% of towns
Where Gooseneck ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$49,762 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gooseneck
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gooseneck home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,762, 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 Gooseneck's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gooseneck
Gooseneck'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 Gooseneck.
Who works in Gooseneck, and how
Work in Gooseneck centers on health care & social and admin & support services. 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 Gooseneck
The coast is about 50 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Gooseneck, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gooseneck, month by month
Gooseneck sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Gooseneck
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gooseneck
Schools across Gooseneck average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Acme Delco ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Malpass Corner ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Leland MiddleB · 45% proficient
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- North Brunswick HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gooseneck school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gooseneck 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 Gooseneck against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gooseneck
Is Gooseneck a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gooseneck ranks 42,664th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gooseneck expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,830. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $49,762 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Gooseneck safe?
Gooseneck is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $395 per resident a year.
Compare Gooseneck with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gooseneck. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gooseneck 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.
Gooseneck detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gooseneck: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gooseneck: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gooseneck: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gooseneck: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gooseneck 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.