Best PlacesHarnett County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harnett 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.
Harnett County ranks 1,167th 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 a strong job market and state finances. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, long commutes, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Harnett 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 Harnett County
The parts of Harnett 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.
Sanford & Broadway
Prices have run up less, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Cameron, Spring Lake & Bunnlevel
More households have young kids, though more homes sit empty.
Angier, Lillington & Fuquay-Varina
Tree cover is thinner.
Coats
It is quieter, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Erwin
Homes cost less, though heat risk is higher.
Dunn
Commutes are shorter, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Harnett County run from about the 5th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Harnett County's strengths and weaknesses
Harnett County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market, state finances, and cheap car insurance carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, long commutes, and the weather hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Harnett County to another than it does between Harnett County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Harnett County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 92% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 73% of counties
Where Harnett County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harnett County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harnett County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,735, 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 Harnett County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Harnett County
Harnett County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harnett County.
Who works in Harnett County, and how
Work in Harnett County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harnett County
Harnett County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Harnett County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Harnett County growing, and who is moving in?
Harnett County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Raleigh, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harnett County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harnett County, month by month
Harnett County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Harnett County
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harnett County
Schools across Harnett County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Springs ElementaryA · 71% proficient
- Anderson Creek AcademyA− · 62% proficient
- Lafayette ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fuquay-varina MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Western Harnett MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Highland MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Cumberland International Early CollegeA+ · 83% proficient
- Harnett County Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
- Fuquay-varina HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harnett County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harnett 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 Harnett County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Harnett County suits
Common questions about living in Harnett County
Is Harnett County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harnett County ranks 1,167th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harnett County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $251,667. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $72,735 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Harnett County safe?
Yes, Harnett County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $315 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Harnett County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 35. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Harnett County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sanford & Broadway, Cameron, Spring Lake & Bunnlevel, and Angier, Lillington & Fuquay-Varina. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Harnett County good for families?
Schools beat 64% of counties, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $723 a month.
Is Harnett County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 47% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Harnett County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harnett County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harnett 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.
Harnett County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harnett County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harnett County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harnett County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harnett County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harnett 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.