Best PlacesHighfalls, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Highfalls, 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.
Highfalls ranks 14,359th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Highfalls
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.
Highfalls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Highfalls ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- QuietBetter than 80% of towns
Where Highfalls ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Highfalls
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highfalls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,328, 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 Highfalls' effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Highfalls
Highfalls runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Highfalls.
Who works in Highfalls, and how
Work in Highfalls centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Highfalls
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Highfalls.
What the weather is like in Highfalls, month by month
Highfalls sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Highfalls
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 47 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 Highfalls
Schools across Highfalls average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bennett SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Highfalls ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Chatham Central HighB+ · 55% proficient
- North Moore HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Highfalls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Highfalls 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 Highfalls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Highfalls
Is Highfalls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highfalls ranks 14,359th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highfalls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,920. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $86,328 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Highfalls safe?
Highfalls is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
Compare Highfalls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highfalls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highfalls 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.
Highfalls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highfalls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highfalls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highfalls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highfalls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highfalls 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.