Best PlacesIdlewild, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Idlewild, 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.
Idlewild ranks 20,369th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Idlewild
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.
Idlewild's strengths and weaknesses
Where Idlewild ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
Where Idlewild ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Idlewild
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Idlewild home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,262, 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 Idlewild's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Idlewild
Idlewild 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 Idlewild.
Who works in Idlewild, and how
Work in Idlewild centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Idlewild
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Idlewild.
What the weather is like in Idlewild, month by month
Idlewild sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Idlewild
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Idlewild
Schools across Idlewild average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Pleasant Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Parkway ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Mountain View ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ashe County MiddleA · 67% proficient
- West Wilkes Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkes Early College High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Ashe County HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Idlewild school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Idlewild 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 Idlewild against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Idlewild
Is Idlewild a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Idlewild ranks 20,369th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and low disaster risk, 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 Idlewild expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,556. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $65,262 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Idlewild safe?
Yes, Idlewild is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Idlewild with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Idlewild. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Idlewild 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.
Idlewild detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Idlewild: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Idlewild: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Idlewild: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Idlewild: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Idlewild 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.