Best PlacesHigh Shoals, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around High Shoals, 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.
High Shoals ranks 25,379th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in High Shoals
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.
High Shoals' strengths and weaknesses
Where High Shoals ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
Where High Shoals ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Household income$55,055 median, better than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in High Shoals
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median High Shoals home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,055, 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 High Shoals' effective rate of 0.63%, 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 High Shoals
High Shoals runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for High Shoals.
Who works in High Shoals, and how
Work in High Shoals centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in High Shoals
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across High Shoals.
What the weather is like in High Shoals, month by month
High Shoals sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of High Shoals
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around High Shoals
Schools across High Shoals average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Costner ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Kiser ElementaryC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- W C Friday Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every High Shoals school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
High Shoals 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 High Shoals against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in High Shoals
Is High Shoals a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, High Shoals ranks 25,379th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on noise 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 High Shoals expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,026. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $55,055 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is High Shoals safe?
High Shoals is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare High Shoals with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to High Shoals. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in High Shoals 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.
High Shoals detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for High Shoals: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in High Shoals: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of High Shoals: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in High Shoals: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
High Shoals 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.