Best PlacesHarris, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Harris, 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.
Harris ranks 21,930th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harris
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.
Harris' strengths and weaknesses
Where Harris ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Harris ranks low
- Household income$48,349 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Harris
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,349, 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 Harris' effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Harris
Harris's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Harris.
Who works in Harris, and how
Work in Harris centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Harris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harris.
What the weather is like in Harris, month by month
Harris sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Harris
The nearest airport, Greenville Spartanburg International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harris
Schools across Harris average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Polk Central Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Harris Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Polk County Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Chase Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Rutherford Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Polk County Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harris 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 Harris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Harris
Is Harris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harris ranks 21,930th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on low incomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,711. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $48,349 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Harris safe?
Yes, Harris is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare Harris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harris 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.
Harris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harris 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.