Best PlacesHillsborough, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hillsborough, 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.
Hillsborough ranks 465th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hillsborough
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.
Hillsborough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hillsborough ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of cities
Where Hillsborough ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 10% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 21% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Hillsborough
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hillsborough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $111,932; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Hillsborough's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Hillsborough
Hillsborough runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Hillsborough.
Who works in Hillsborough, and how
Work in Hillsborough centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Hillsborough
Hillsborough has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Hillsborough and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Hillsborough, month by month
Hillsborough sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, 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 | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Hillsborough
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 21 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 Hillsborough
Schools across Hillsborough average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- The Expedition SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Morris Grove ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Hillsborough ElementaryA · 69% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcdougle MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Orange MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- A L Stanback MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- City Of Medicine AcademyA · 78% proficient
- Cedar Ridge HighA · 71% proficient
- Chapel Hill HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hillsborough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Hillsborough suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 78% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 65% of cities, health care access beats 87%, and it is quieter than 70%.
Common questions about living in Hillsborough
Is Hillsborough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hillsborough ranks 465th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hillsborough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $428,676. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $111,932 median income, cost of living beats 78% of cities.
Is Hillsborough safe?
Hillsborough is safer than 27% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $443 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Hillsborough?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of cities.
Is Hillsborough good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,349 a month.
Compare Hillsborough with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hillsborough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hillsborough 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.
Hillsborough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hillsborough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hillsborough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hillsborough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hillsborough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hillsborough 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.