Best PlacesMacon County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Macon County, 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.
Macon County ranks 1,205th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Macon County
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.
The best areas in Macon County
The parts of Macon County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Highlands
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and commutes are shorter.
Franklin
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
Otto
Scores across Macon County run from about the 22nd to the 76th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Macon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Macon County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 94% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of counties
Where Macon County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 12% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Macon County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $59,640, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Macon County's effective rate of 0.40%, 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 Macon County
Macon County 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 Macon County.
Who works in Macon County, and how
Work in Macon County centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Macon County
Macon County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Macon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Macon County growing, and who is moving in?
Macon County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from McDowell County, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Macon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Macon County, month by month
Macon County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 56° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Macon County
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Macon County
Schools across Macon County average a B+, better than 94% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cartoogechaye ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- South Macon ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Swain County West ElementaryB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Macon Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Andrews MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Mountain View IntermediateB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Macon Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Jackson Co Early CollegeA+ · 85% proficient
- Franklin HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macon County 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 Macon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Macon County suits
Common questions about living in Macon County
Is Macon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macon County ranks 1,205th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Macon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,839. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $59,640 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Macon County safe?
Yes, Macon County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $393 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Macon County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 28. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Macon County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Highlands, Franklin, and Otto. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Macon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macon County 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.
Macon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macon County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.