Best PlacesHayesville, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hayesville, 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.
Hayesville ranks 19,413th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hayesville
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.
Hayesville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hayesville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of towns
Where Hayesville ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$61,246 median, better than only 30% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 32% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hayesville
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hayesville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,246, 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 Hayesville's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hayesville
Hayesville 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 Hayesville.
Who works in Hayesville, and how
Work in Hayesville centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Hayesville
Hayesville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Hayesville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hayesville, month by month
Hayesville sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 74° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Hayesville
The nearest airport, McGhee Tyson, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hayesville
Schools across Hayesville average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hayesville ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Cartoogechaye ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hayesville MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- Mountain View IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Macon Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Hayesville HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hayesville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hayesville 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 Hayesville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hayesville
Is Hayesville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hayesville ranks 19,413th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, health care access, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hayesville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,375. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $61,246 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Hayesville safe?
Hayesville is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Hayesville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hayesville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hayesville 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.
Hayesville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hayesville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hayesville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hayesville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hayesville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hayesville 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.