Best PlacesNeuse Forest, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Neuse Forest, 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.
Neuse Forest ranks 19,369th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Neuse Forest
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.
Neuse Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Neuse Forest ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
Where Neuse Forest ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 21% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Neuse Forest
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Neuse Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,028, 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 Neuse Forest's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Neuse Forest
Neuse Forest runs younger 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 Neuse Forest.
Who works in Neuse Forest, and how
Work in Neuse Forest centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Neuse Forest
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Neuse Forest, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Neuse Forest, month by month
Neuse Forest sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 78° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Neuse Forest
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Neuse Forest
Schools across Neuse Forest average an A, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- W Jesse Gurganus ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Creekside ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Brinson Memorial ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tucker Creek MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Grover C Fields MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College East HighA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Neuse Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Neuse Forest 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 Neuse Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Neuse Forest
Is Neuse Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Neuse Forest ranks 19,369th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, a strong job market, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Neuse Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $220,429. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $62,028 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Neuse Forest safe?
Yes, Neuse Forest is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Neuse Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Neuse Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Neuse Forest 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.
Neuse Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Neuse Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Neuse Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Neuse Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Neuse Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Neuse Forest 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.