Best PlacesKings Mountain, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kings Mountain, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kings Mountain ranks 1,388th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kings Mountain
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.
Kings Mountain's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kings Mountain ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap childcare$675 a month, better than 90% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of cities
Where Kings Mountain ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 2% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kings Mountain
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kings Mountain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,008, 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 Kings Mountain's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Kings Mountain
Kings Mountain runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kings Mountain.
Who works in Kings Mountain, and how
Work in Kings Mountain centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kings Mountain
Kings Mountain has more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Kings Mountain and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kings Mountain, month by month
Kings Mountain sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Kings Mountain
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Kings Mountain
Schools across Kings Mountain average an A−, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- East ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Grover ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Bethware ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burns MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Kings Mountain MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Crest MiddleA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
- Kings Mountain HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kings Mountain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kings Mountain 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 Kings Mountain against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kings Mountain suits
Common questions about living in Kings Mountain
Is Kings Mountain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kings Mountain ranks 1,388th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and affordable childcare, 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 Kings Mountain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,701. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,008 median income, cost of living beats 29% of cities.
Is Kings Mountain safe?
Kings Mountain is safer than 36% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kings Mountain?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 31. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of cities.
Is Kings Mountain good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $675 a month.
Compare Kings Mountain with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kings Mountain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kings Mountain 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.
Kings Mountain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kings Mountain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kings Mountain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kings Mountain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kings Mountain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kings Mountain 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.