Best PlacesMerry Hill, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Merry Hill, 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.
Merry Hill ranks 46,305th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Merry Hill
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.
Merry Hill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Merry Hill ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of towns
Where Merry Hill ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Merry Hill
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merry Hill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,555, 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 Merry Hill's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Merry Hill
Merry Hill 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 Merry Hill.
Who works in Merry Hill, and how
Work in Merry Hill centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Merry Hill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merry Hill.
What the weather is like in Merry Hill, month by month
Merry Hill sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 45° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 90° | 82° | 75° |
| October | 76° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Merry Hill
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merry Hill
Schools across Merry Hill average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Colerain ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Windsor ElementaryD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bertie MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Bertie Early College HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merry Hill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merry Hill 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 Merry Hill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Merry Hill
Is Merry Hill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merry Hill ranks 46,305th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on crime and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merry Hill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,010. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $49,555 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Merry Hill safe?
Merry Hill is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,111 per resident a year.
Compare Merry Hill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merry Hill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merry Hill 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.
Merry Hill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merry Hill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merry Hill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merry Hill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merry Hill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merry Hill 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.