Best PlacesMatthews, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Matthews, 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.
Matthews ranks 227th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Matthews
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 Matthews
The parts of Matthews, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Hembstead
Providence Estates East
Idlewild South
Marshbrooke & East Forest
Scores across Matthews run from about the 46th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Matthews' strengths and weaknesses
Where Matthews ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 88% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of cities
Where Matthews ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 73 pleasant days a year, better than only 33% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 35% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 37% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Matthews
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Matthews home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $116,153, 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 Matthews' effective rate of 0.69%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Matthews
Matthews's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Matthews.
Who works in Matthews, and how
Work in Matthews centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Matthews
Matthews has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Matthews and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Matthews, month by month
Matthews sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Matthews
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 15 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 Matthews
Schools across Matthews average an A, better than 95% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Weddington ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Antioch ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Providence Spring ElementaryA+ · 84% proficient
Top middle schools
- Weddington MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Jay M. Robinson MiddleA+ · 84% proficient
- South Charlotte MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Levine Middle College High SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Union County Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Butler High SchoolA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Matthews school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Matthews 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 Matthews against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Matthews suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Matthews
Is Matthews a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Matthews ranks 227th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on walkability and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Matthews expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $447,136. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $116,153 median income, cost of living beats 87% of cities.
Is Matthews safe?
Matthews is safer than 49% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Matthews?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 32. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Matthews?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hembstead, Providence Estates East, and Idlewild South. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Matthews with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Matthews. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Matthews 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.
Matthews detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Matthews: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Matthews: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Matthews: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Matthews: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Matthews 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.