Best PlacesGrayson, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grayson, 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.
Grayson ranks 32,731st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grayson
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.
Grayson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grayson ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
Where Grayson ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$36,750 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grayson
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grayson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $36,750, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Grayson's effective rate of 0.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Grayson
Grayson 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 Grayson.
Who works in Grayson, and how
Work in Grayson centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Grayson
Grayson has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Grayson and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grayson, month by month
Grayson sees roughly 107 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 Grayson
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grayson
Schools across Grayson average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blue Ridge ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ashe County MiddleA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashe County HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grayson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grayson 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 Grayson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Grayson
Is Grayson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grayson ranks 32,731st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, low disaster risk, and state finances, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grayson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,800. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $36,750 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Grayson safe?
Grayson is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
Compare Grayson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grayson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grayson 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.
Grayson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grayson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grayson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grayson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grayson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grayson 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.