Best PlacesMartin County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Martin County, 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.
Martin County ranks 2,679th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Disaster risk pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Martin 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.
Martin County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Martin County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of counties
- QuietBetter than 78% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 69% of counties
Where Martin County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$51,674 median, better than only 11% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 17% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Martin County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Martin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,674, 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 Martin County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Martin County
Martin 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 Martin County.
Who works in Martin County, and how
Work in Martin County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Martin County
Martin County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Martin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Martin County growing, and who is moving in?
Martin County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Greenville, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Martin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Martin County, month by month
Martin County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Martin County
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Martin County
Schools across Martin County average a C−, better than 25% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rodgers ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Jamesville ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- StokesB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverside MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- W A Pattillo MiddleC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Northeast Regional School - Biotech/agriA+ · 80% proficient
- Bear Grass Charter SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Riverside HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Martin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Martin 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 Martin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Martin County suits
Common questions about living in Martin County
Is Martin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Martin County ranks 2,679th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Martin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $114,332. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $51,674 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Martin County safe?
Martin County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $560 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Martin County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 35. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
Is Martin County good for families?
Schools beat 25% of counties, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $685 a month.
Compare Martin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Martin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Martin 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.
Martin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Martin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Martin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Martin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Martin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Martin 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.