Best PlacesMorganton, NC 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 1,371st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
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
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of cities
- Cheap childcare$675 a month, better than 90% of cities
Where Morganton ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 4% of cities
- Household income$60,279 median, better than only 8% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Morganton
A household needs to earn about $53,000 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 $60,279, 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 0.67%, 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 manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Morganton
Morganton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Morganton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Morganton, month by month
Morganton sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Morganton
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morganton
Schools across Morganton average a B+, better than 86% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- New DimensionsA · 70% proficient
- Sunshine Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Salem ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heritage MiddleA · 64% proficient
- East Burke MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Burke Middle CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Rutherford Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Mcdowell Early CollegeA+ · 85% 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 2,097 cities.
Who Morganton suits
Common questions about living in Morganton
Is Morganton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morganton ranks 1,371st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. 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 $204,585. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $60,279 median income, cost of living beats 14% of cities.
Is Morganton safe?
Morganton is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Morganton?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 30. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of cities.
Is Morganton good for families?
Schools beat 86% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $675 a month.
Compare Morganton with other cities
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.