Best PlacesJohnston County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Johnston County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Johnston County ranks 331st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $90,446, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, walkability, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Johnston County
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.
The best areas in Johnston County
The parts of Johnston County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Archer Lodge, Wilsons Mills & Wendell
More adults hold degrees, more households have young kids, and local pay stretches further.
Willow Spring & Angier
Incomes run higher and more residents vote.
Clayton & Garner
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Princeton
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Middlesex, Kenly & Zebulon
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Smithfield
Prices have run up more and crime runs higher.
Four Oaks
Health care is harder to reach.
Benson
Selma
Heat risk is higher.
Johnston County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Johnston County's strengths and weaknesses
Johnston County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. A strong job market is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. What local pay buys and few empty homes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Long commutes, walkability, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Johnston County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
Where Johnston County ranks low
- Short commute32.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 74 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of counties
- Cheap childcare$890 a month, better than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Johnston County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,446, 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 Johnston County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Johnston County
Johnston County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Johnston County.
Who works in Johnston County, and how
Work in Johnston County centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Johnston County
Johnston County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Johnston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Johnston County growing, and who is moving in?
Johnston County has grown about 38% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Raleigh, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Johnston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Johnston County, month by month
Johnston County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Johnston County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 30 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 Johnston County
Schools across Johnston County average a B+, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Johnston Charter AcademyA · 69% proficient
- Riverwood ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- River Dell ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cleveland MiddleA · 65% proficient
- The Innovation Academy At South CampusA · 61% proficient
- Riverwood MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Johnston County Schools Career TechnicalA+ · 88% proficient
- Johnston Co Early College AcademyA+ · 85% proficient
- Cleveland HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnston County 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 Johnston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Johnston County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Johnston County
Is Johnston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnston County ranks 331st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Johnston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,047. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $90,446 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Johnston County safe?
Yes, Johnston County is safer than 76% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Johnston County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 34. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Johnston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Archer Lodge, Wilsons Mills & Wendell, Willow Spring & Angier, and Clayton & Garner. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Johnston County good for families?
Schools beat 88% of counties, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $890 a month.
Is Johnston County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 68% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Johnston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnston County 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.
Johnston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnston County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.