Best PlacesNash County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nash County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nash County ranks 1,738th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Nash County
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.
The best areas in Nash County
The parts of Nash County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Red Oak
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and fewer homes sit empty.
Rocky Mount & Nashville
Fewer households have young kids and tree cover is thinner.
Bailey, Middlesex & Spring Hope
Heat risk is lower, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Nash County run from about the 3rd to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Nash County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nash County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 82% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of counties
- School gradeB−, better than 78% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 77% of counties
Where Nash County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 24% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nash County
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nash County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,934, 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 Nash County's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Nash County
Nash County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Nash County.
Who works in Nash County, and how
Work in Nash County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Nash County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nash County.
Is Nash County growing, and who is moving in?
Nash County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Raleigh, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nash County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nash County, month by month
Nash County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 42° | 31° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Nash County
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nash County
Schools across Nash County average a B−, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Coopers ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Swift Creek ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Middlesex ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nash Central MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- Red Oak MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Southern Nash MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Nrm Early College High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Northern Nash HighC · 34% proficient
- Southern Nash HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nash County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nash County 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 Nash County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Nash County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Nash County
Is Nash County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nash County ranks 1,738th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, transit, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on crime and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nash County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,906. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $71,934 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Nash County safe?
Nash County is safer than 8% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $695 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Nash County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 55 with lows near 31. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Nash County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Red Oak, Rocky Mount & Nashville, and Bailey, Middlesex & Spring Hope. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Nash County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nash County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nash County 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.
Nash County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nash County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nash County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nash County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nash County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nash County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.