Best PlacesKingstown, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kingstown, 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.
Kingstown ranks 16,789th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kingstown
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.
Kingstown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kingstown ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Kingstown ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 23% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 37% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kingstown
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kingstown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,111, 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 Kingstown's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Kingstown
Kingstown's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Kingstown.
Who works in Kingstown, and how
Work in Kingstown centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kingstown
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kingstown.
What the weather is like in Kingstown, month by month
Kingstown sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Kingstown
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 39 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 Kingstown
Schools across Kingstown average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Union ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Burns MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleveland EchsA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kingstown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kingstown 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 Kingstown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kingstown
Is Kingstown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kingstown ranks 16,789th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on a weak job market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kingstown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,600. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $71,111 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Kingstown safe?
Kingstown is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $410 per resident a year.
Compare Kingstown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kingstown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kingstown 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.
Kingstown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kingstown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kingstown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kingstown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kingstown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kingstown 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.