Best PlacesLake Waccamaw, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Waccamaw, 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.
Lake Waccamaw ranks 33,183rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Waccamaw
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.
Lake Waccamaw's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Waccamaw ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Lake Waccamaw ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Waccamaw
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Waccamaw home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,145; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Lake Waccamaw's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Waccamaw
Lake Waccamaw runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Waccamaw.
Who works in Lake Waccamaw, and how
Work in Lake Waccamaw centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lake Waccamaw
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Waccamaw.
What the weather is like in Lake Waccamaw, month by month
Lake Waccamaw sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Lake Waccamaw
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Waccamaw
Schools across Lake Waccamaw average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Town Creek ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
- Old Dock ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Hallsboro-artesia ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Brunswick MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
- East Columbus Junior-senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
- Thomas AcademyD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Waccamaw school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Waccamaw 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 Lake Waccamaw against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Waccamaw
Is Lake Waccamaw a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Waccamaw ranks 33,183rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Waccamaw expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,576. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $70,145 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Lake Waccamaw safe?
Lake Waccamaw is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $410 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Waccamaw with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Waccamaw. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Waccamaw 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.
Lake Waccamaw detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Waccamaw: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Waccamaw: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Waccamaw: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Waccamaw: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Waccamaw 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.