Best PlacesLeland, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leland, 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.
Leland ranks 1,142nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Leland
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.
Leland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leland ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of cities
Where Leland ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Leland
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,307, 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 Leland'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 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 Leland
Leland 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 Leland.
Who works in Leland, and how
Work in Leland centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Leland
The coast is about 24 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Leland, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Leland, month by month
Leland sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Leland
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leland
Schools across Leland average a B+, better than 84% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Dr Hubert Eaton Sr ElemA+ · 78% proficient
- Classical Charter Schools Of LelandA · 66% proficient
- South Topsail ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Topsail MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- South Brunswick MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Holly Shelter MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
- Wilmington Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Topsail HighA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leland 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 Leland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Leland suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Leland
Is Leland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leland ranks 1,142nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Leland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $340,172. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $87,307 median income, cost of living beats 63% of cities.
Is Leland safe?
Yes, Leland is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Leland?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 36. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
Is Leland good for families?
Schools beat 84% of cities, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $784 a month.
Compare Leland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leland 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.
Leland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leland 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.