Best PlacesIron Station, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Iron Station, 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.
Iron Station ranks 7,774th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Iron Station
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.
Iron Station's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iron Station ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
Where Iron Station ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 31% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of towns
- Short commute29.4 minutes each way, better than only 36% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Iron Station
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iron Station home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,732, 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 Iron Station's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Iron Station
Iron Station 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 Iron Station.
Who works in Iron Station, and how
Work in Iron Station centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Iron Station
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Iron Station.
What the weather is like in Iron Station, month by month
Iron Station sees roughly 77 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 Iron Station
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 Iron Station
Schools across Iron Station average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Catawba Springs ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- St James ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Iron Station ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Lincoln MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- East Lincoln MiddleA · 66% proficient
- Stanley MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- North Lincoln HighA · 78% proficient
- East Lincoln HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iron Station school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iron Station 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 Iron Station against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Iron Station
Is Iron Station a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iron Station ranks 7,774th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and civic engagement, and lowest on an overheated housing market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Iron Station expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $285,835. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,732 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Iron Station safe?
Yes, Iron Station is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $295 per resident a year.
Compare Iron Station with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iron Station. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iron Station 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.
Iron Station detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iron Station: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iron Station: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iron Station: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iron Station: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iron Station 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.