Best PlacesHandy, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Handy, 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.
Handy ranks 19,794th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Handy
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.
Handy's strengths and weaknesses
Where Handy ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Handy ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Handy
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Handy home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,812, 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 Handy's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Handy
Handy 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 Handy.
Who works in Handy, and how
Work in Handy centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Handy
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Handy.
What the weather is like in Handy, month by month
Handy sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Handy
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Handy
Schools across Handy average a B, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Farmer Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Badin ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
- Denton ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Davidson MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Southwestern Randolph MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- North Stanly MiddleB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Randolph Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- North Stanly HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Uwharrie Ridge Six-twelveC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Handy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Handy 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 Handy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Handy
Is Handy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Handy ranks 19,794th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Handy expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,087. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,812 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Handy safe?
Handy is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $369 per resident a year.
Compare Handy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Handy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Handy 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.
Handy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Handy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Handy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Handy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Handy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Handy 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.