Best PlacesGuilford County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Guilford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Guilford County ranks 531st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on transit and low disaster risk. The weaker spots are noise, the weather, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Guilford 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.
The best areas in Guilford County
The parts of Guilford County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Oak Ridge, Stokesdale & Kernersville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Summerfield
Health care is easier to reach, though fewer households have young kids.
Colfax
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Pleasant Garden, Julian & Liberty
More residents vote and it is quieter.
Browns Summit, McLeansville & Gibsonville
Health outcomes score lower.
Greensboro
Streets are more walkable, though prices have run up more.
Whitsett
Tree cover is thinner and more homes sit empty.
High Point
Homes cost less, though schools score lower.
Guilford County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Guilford County's strengths and weaknesses
Guilford County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit, low disaster risk, and fast internet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, the weather, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Guilford County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of counties
Where Guilford County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 32% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Guilford County
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Guilford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,645, 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 Guilford County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Guilford County
Guilford County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Guilford County.
Who works in Guilford County, and how
Work in Guilford County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Guilford County
Guilford County has more late-night spots per resident than 83% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Guilford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Guilford County growing, and who is moving in?
Guilford County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Winston Salem, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Guilford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Guilford County, month by month
Guilford County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Guilford County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 61 miles away.
The best schools in and around Guilford County
Schools across Guilford County average a B+, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Ridge ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Southwest ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Ep Pearce ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brown Summit MiddleA+ · 98% proficient
- Northwest Guilford MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
- Kernodle MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College At GuilfordA+ · 95% proficient
- Stem Early College @ Nc A&t SuA+ · 95% proficient
- Philip J Weaver Ed CenterA+ · 87% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Guilford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Guilford 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 Guilford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Guilford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Guilford County
Is Guilford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Guilford County ranks 531st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Guilford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,287. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $79,645 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Guilford County safe?
Guilford County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $482 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Guilford County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 29. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Guilford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Oak Ridge, Stokesdale & Kernersville, Summerfield, and Colfax. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Guilford County good for families?
Schools beat 83% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $858 a month.
Is Guilford County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Guilford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Guilford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Guilford 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.
Guilford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Guilford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Guilford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Guilford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Guilford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Guilford 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.