Best PlacesMonroe, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monroe, 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.
Monroe ranks 1,207th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monroe
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.
Monroe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monroe ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 90% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 83% of cities
Where Monroe ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 9% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of cities
- Short commute30.7 minutes each way, better than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Monroe
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monroe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,810, 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 Monroe's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Monroe
Monroe's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Monroe.
Who works in Monroe, and how
Work in Monroe centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Monroe
Monroe has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Monroe and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Monroe, month by month
Monroe 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 Monroe
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 27 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 Monroe
Schools across Monroe average a B+, better than 83% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Wesley Chapel ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Poplin ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Unionville ElementaryA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Porter Ridge Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Piedmont MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Sun Valley MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Academy Of Technology And ArtsA+ · 95% proficient
- Union County Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Parkwood HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monroe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monroe 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 Monroe against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Monroe suits
Common questions about living in Monroe
Is Monroe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monroe ranks 1,207th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on internet speeds and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monroe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $315,695. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $81,810 median income, cost of living beats 46% of cities.
Is Monroe safe?
Monroe is safer than 25% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Monroe?
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.
Is Monroe good for families?
Schools beat 83% of cities, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $915 a month.
Compare Monroe with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monroe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monroe 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.
Monroe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monroe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monroe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monroe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monroe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monroe 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.