Best PlacesKannapolis, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kannapolis, 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.
Kannapolis ranks 1,193rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kannapolis
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 Kannapolis
The parts of Kannapolis, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Kellswater Bridge
Rainbow Drive
Car Town
Old Earnhardt & Harbour Towne
Kannapolis shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kannapolis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Kannapolis ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 72% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 68% of cities
Where Kannapolis ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 15% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 24% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kannapolis
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kannapolis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,942, 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 Kannapolis' effective rate of 0.77%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kannapolis
Kannapolis'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 Kannapolis.
Who works in Kannapolis, and how
Work in Kannapolis centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kannapolis
Kannapolis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kannapolis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kannapolis, month by month
Kannapolis sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Kannapolis
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 26 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kannapolis
Schools across Kannapolis average a B, better than 60% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Pleasant ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Bostian ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Jackson Park ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harris Road MiddleA+ · 80% proficient
- Mount Pleasant MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Northwest Cabarrus MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Cabarrus-kannapolis Early CollA+ · 80% proficient
- Northwest Cabarrus HighA · 70% proficient
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kannapolis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kannapolis 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 Kannapolis against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kannapolis suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Kannapolis
Is Kannapolis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kannapolis ranks 1,193rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kannapolis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,836. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $77,942 median income, cost of living beats 46% of cities.
Is Kannapolis safe?
Kannapolis is safer than 44% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $381 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kannapolis?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 34. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kannapolis?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Kellswater Bridge, Rainbow Drive, and Car Town. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Kannapolis with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kannapolis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kannapolis 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.
Kannapolis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kannapolis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kannapolis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kannapolis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kannapolis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kannapolis 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.