Best PlacesHarrell, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harrell, 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.
Harrell ranks 37,748th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harrell
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.
Harrell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harrell ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Harrell ranks low
- Household income$44,200 median, better than only 7% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harrell
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harrell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $44,200, 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 Harrell's effective rate of 0.48%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Harrell
Harrell 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 Harrell.
Who works in Harrell, and how
Work in Harrell centers on mining & oil & gas and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 96%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harrell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harrell.
What the weather is like in Harrell, month by month
Harrell sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Harrell
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harrell
Schools across Harrell average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gouge ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harris MiddleA− · 58% proficient
- Bowman MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Mayland Early CollegeA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harrell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harrell 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 Harrell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harrell
Is Harrell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harrell ranks 37,748th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and good schools, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harrell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,200. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $44,200 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Harrell safe?
Harrell is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $360 per resident a year.
Compare Harrell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harrell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harrell 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.
Harrell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harrell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harrell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harrell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harrell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harrell 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.