Best PlacesMicro, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Micro, 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.
Micro ranks 29,907th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Micro
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.
Micro's strengths and weaknesses
Where Micro ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Micro ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Household income$52,250 median, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Micro
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Micro home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,250, 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 Micro'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 Micro
Micro runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Micro.
Who works in Micro, and how
Work in Micro centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Micro
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Micro.
What the weather is like in Micro, month by month
Micro sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Micro
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Micro
Schools across Micro average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Level ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Micro ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Johnston MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Johnston Co Early College AcademyA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Micro school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Micro 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 Micro against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Micro
Is Micro a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Micro ranks 29,907th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on noise and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Micro expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,000. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $52,250 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Micro safe?
Micro is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $340 per resident a year.
Compare Micro with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Micro. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Micro 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.
Micro detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Micro: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Micro: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Micro: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Micro: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Micro 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.