Best PlacesJonestown, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jonestown, 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.
Jonestown ranks 22,161st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jonestown
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.
Jonestown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jonestown ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- QuietBetter than 80% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 80% of towns
Where Jonestown ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Jonestown
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jonestown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,195, 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 Jonestown'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 Jonestown
Jonestown runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jonestown.
Who works in Jonestown, and how
Work in Jonestown centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Jonestown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Jonestown.
What the weather is like in Jonestown, month by month
Jonestown sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Jonestown
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jonestown
Schools across Jonestown average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pink Hill ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodington MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Lenoir County Early College HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jonestown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jonestown 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 Jonestown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Jonestown
Is Jonestown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jonestown ranks 22,161st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jonestown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $154,360. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $70,195 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Jonestown safe?
Jonestown is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
Compare Jonestown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jonestown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jonestown 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.
Jonestown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jonestown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jonestown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jonestown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jonestown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jonestown 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.