Best PlacesMorganton, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Morganton, 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.
Morganton ranks 40,425th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Morganton
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.
Morganton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morganton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 155 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
Where Morganton ranks low
- Short commute46.2 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Morganton
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morganton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,719, 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 Morganton's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Morganton
Morganton 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 Morganton.
Who works in Morganton, and how
Work in Morganton centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Morganton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Morganton.
What the weather is like in Morganton, month by month
Morganton sees roughly 155 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 38° | 29° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Morganton
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morganton
Schools across Morganton average a C, better than 37% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cowsert Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- South Side Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clinton Jr High SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Clinton High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- South Side High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morganton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morganton 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 Morganton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Morganton
Is Morganton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morganton ranks 40,425th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on long commutes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morganton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,899. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $61,719 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Morganton safe?
Morganton is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $423 per resident a year.
Compare Morganton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morganton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morganton 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.
Morganton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morganton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morganton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morganton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morganton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morganton 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.