Best PlacesHalf Moon, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Half Moon, 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.
Half Moon ranks 13,608th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Half Moon
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.
Half Moon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Half Moon ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
Where Half Moon ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Half Moon
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Half Moon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,067, 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 Half Moon's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Half Moon
Half Moon runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Half Moon.
Who works in Half Moon, and how
Work in Half Moon centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Half Moon
The coast is about 36 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Half Moon, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Half Moon, month by month
Half Moon sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 44° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Half Moon
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Half Moon
Schools across Half Moon average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Carolina Forest ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Stateside ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacksonville Commons MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Northwoods Park MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Northside HighA− · 62% proficient
- Jacksonville HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Half Moon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Half Moon 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 Half Moon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Half Moon
Is Half Moon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Half Moon ranks 13,608th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, fast internet, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Half Moon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,932. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $85,067 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Half Moon safe?
Yes, Half Moon is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Half Moon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Half Moon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Half Moon 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.
Half Moon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Half Moon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Half Moon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Half Moon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Half Moon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Half Moon 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.