Best PlacesNewton, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Newton, 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.
Newton ranks 10,648th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Newton
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.
Newton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Newton ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Newton ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 31% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 36% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 42% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Newton
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,600, 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 Newton's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Newton
Newton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Newton.
Who works in Newton, and how
Work in Newton centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Newton
Newton has more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Newton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Newton, month by month
Newton sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Newton
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 34 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Newton
Schools across Newton average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Balls Creek ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Startown ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Banoak ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacobs Fork MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Mill Creek MiddleA · 62% proficient
- Maiden Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Challenger Early College HighA+ · 94% proficient
- Discovery High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Newton-conover HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newton 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 Newton against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Newton suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Newton
Is Newton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newton ranks 10,648th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Newton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,113. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $72,600 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Newton safe?
Newton is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $349 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Newton?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 29. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of towns.
Is Newton good for families?
Schools beat 93% of towns, crime safety beats 48%, and childcare runs $697 a month.
Compare Newton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newton 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.
Newton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newton 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.