Best PlacesHaw River, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Haw River, 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.
Haw River ranks 15,294th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Haw River
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.
Haw River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Haw River ranks high
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where Haw River ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 29% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Haw River
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Haw River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,391, 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 Haw River's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Haw River
Haw River runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Haw River.
Who works in Haw River, and how
Work in Haw River centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Haw River
Haw River has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Haw River and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Haw River, month by month
Haw River sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 41° | 29° |
| April | 76° | 61° | 47° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Haw River
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 33 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Haw River
Schools across Haw River average a B, better than 73% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Audrey W. Garrett ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- Alexander Wilson ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- B. Everett Jordan ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hawfields MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Southern Alamance MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Woodlawn MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Abss Early College At AccA+ · 87% proficient
- Southern Alamance HighA− · 63% proficient
- Eastern Alamance HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Haw River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Haw River 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 Haw River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Haw River
Is Haw River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Haw River ranks 15,294th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on education levels and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Haw River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,772. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $75,391 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Haw River safe?
Haw River is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Haw River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Haw River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Haw River 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.
Haw River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Haw River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Haw River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Haw River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Haw River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Haw River 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.