Best PlacesMount Ulla, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Ulla, 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.
Mount Ulla ranks 5,288th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Ulla
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.
Mount Ulla's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Ulla ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 78% of towns
Where Mount Ulla ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 76 pleasant days a year, better than only 39% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 39% of towns
- TransitBetter than only 44% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 45% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Ulla
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Ulla home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,758, 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 Mount Ulla's effective rate of 0.60%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mount Ulla
Mount Ulla runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mount Ulla.
Who works in Mount Ulla, and how
Work in Mount Ulla centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mount Ulla
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Ulla.
What the weather is like in Mount Ulla, month by month
Mount Ulla sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Mount Ulla
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Ulla
Schools across Mount Ulla average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Shepherd ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Millbridge ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
- Mt Ulla ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lakeshore MiddleA · 61% proficient
- East Mooresville IntermediateA− · 58% proficient
- China Grove MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Crossroads Arts Sciences Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Mooresville High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Ulla school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Ulla 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 Mount Ulla against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Ulla
Is Mount Ulla a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Ulla ranks 5,288th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low crime, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Ulla expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $318,081. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $87,758 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Mount Ulla safe?
Yes, Mount Ulla is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Ulla with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Ulla. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Ulla 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.
Mount Ulla detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Ulla: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Ulla: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Ulla: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Ulla: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Ulla 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.