Best PlacesNewsom, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Newsom, 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.
Newsom ranks 18,857th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Newsom
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.
Newsom's strengths and weaknesses
Where Newsom ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
Where Newsom ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.6 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Newsom
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newsom home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $74,728, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Newsom's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Newsom
Newsom 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 Newsom.
Who works in Newsom, and how
Work in Newsom centers on manufacturing and wholesale trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Newsom
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Newsom.
What the weather is like in Newsom, month by month
Newsom sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Newsom
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Newsom
Schools across Newsom average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Denton ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Richfield ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Morgan ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Stanly MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- Erwin MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- West MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
- North Stanly HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newsom school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newsom 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 Newsom against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Newsom
Is Newsom a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newsom ranks 18,857th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Newsom expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $336,211. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,728 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Newsom safe?
Newsom is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $378 per resident a year.
Compare Newsom with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newsom. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newsom 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.
Newsom detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newsom: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newsom: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newsom: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newsom: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newsom 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.