Best PlacesLenoir, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lenoir, 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.
Lenoir ranks 1,585th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lenoir
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.
Lenoir's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lenoir ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- QuietBetter than 98% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap childcare$670 a month, better than 91% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of cities
Where Lenoir ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 4% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of cities
- Household income$57,575 median, better than only 6% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Lenoir
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lenoir home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,575, 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 Lenoir'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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lenoir
Lenoir 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 Lenoir.
Who works in Lenoir, and how
Work in Lenoir centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lenoir
Lenoir has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lenoir and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lenoir, month by month
Lenoir sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Lenoir
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 58 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 Lenoir
Schools across Lenoir average a B+, better than 76% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Blowing Rock ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Collettsville SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Baton ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage MiddleA · 64% proficient
- Hudson MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- William Lenoir MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Burke Middle CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Caldwell Early CollegeA · 77% proficient
- Watauga Innovation AcademyA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lenoir school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lenoir 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 Lenoir against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Lenoir suits
Common questions about living in Lenoir
Is Lenoir a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lenoir ranks 1,585th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lenoir expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,959. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,575 median income, cost of living beats 11% of cities.
Is Lenoir safe?
Lenoir is safer than 46% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lenoir?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 30. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of cities.
Is Lenoir good for families?
Schools beat 76% of cities, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $670 a month.
Compare Lenoir with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lenoir. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lenoir 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.
Lenoir detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lenoir: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lenoir: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lenoir: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lenoir: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lenoir 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.