Best PlacesKernersville, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kernersville, 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.
Kernersville ranks 809th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kernersville
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.
Kernersville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kernersville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of cities
- School gradeB, better than 78% of cities
Where Kernersville ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 5% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kernersville
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kernersville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,376, 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 Kernersville's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Kernersville
Kernersville runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kernersville.
Who works in Kernersville, and how
Work in Kernersville centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kernersville
Kernersville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kernersville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kernersville, month by month
Kernersville sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Kernersville
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kernersville
Schools across Kernersville average a B, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Ridge ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Colfax ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Wallburg ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwest Guilford MiddleA+ · 75% proficient
- Ledford MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Southwest Guilford MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College Of Forsyth CoA+ · 91% proficient
- Uncg Early/middle CollegeA− · 67% proficient
- Ledford Senior HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kernersville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kernersville 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 Kernersville against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kernersville suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kernersville
Is Kernersville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kernersville ranks 809th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kernersville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,354. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $88,376 median income, cost of living beats 64% of cities.
Is Kernersville safe?
Yes, Kernersville is safer than 56% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kernersville?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 29. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
Is Kernersville good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $838 a month.
Compare Kernersville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kernersville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kernersville 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.
Kernersville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kernersville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kernersville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kernersville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kernersville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kernersville 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.