Best PlacesKenly, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kenly, 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.
Kenly ranks 13,656th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kenly
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.
Kenly's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kenly ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of towns
Where Kenly ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 29% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 32% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 74 pleasant days a year, better than only 35% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kenly
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenly home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,223, 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 Kenly's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kenly
Kenly runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kenly.
Who works in Kenly, and how
Work in Kenly centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kenly
Kenly has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Kenly and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kenly, month by month
Kenly sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Kenly
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 41 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 Kenly
Schools across Kenly average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rock Ridge ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Lucama ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Pine Level ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Springfield MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Norwayne MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- North Johnston MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilson Early College AcademyA+ · 93% proficient
- Wayne Early / Middle College HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Johnston Co Early College AcademyA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenly school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenly 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 Kenly against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kenly
Is Kenly a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenly ranks 13,656th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and a strong job market, and lowest on summer heat and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kenly expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,012. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $77,223 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Kenly safe?
Kenly is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Kenly with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenly. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenly 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.
Kenly detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenly: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenly: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenly: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenly: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenly 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.