Best PlacesNorwood, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Norwood ranks 26,753rd 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 Norwood
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.
Norwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norwood ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 81% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 77% of towns
Where Norwood ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Household income$61,660 median, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norwood
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,660, 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 Norwood's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Norwood
Norwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Norwood.
Who works in Norwood, and how
Work in Norwood 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 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Norwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norwood.
What the weather is like in Norwood, month by month
Norwood sees roughly 64 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 Norwood
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norwood
Schools across Norwood average a B, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Aquadale ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Mount Gilead ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Ansonville ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Stanly Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- South Stanly MiddleB− · 42% proficient
- West MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Anson Co. Early College HighB · 48% proficient
- South Stanly HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norwood 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 Norwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norwood
Is Norwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norwood ranks 26,753rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, 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 Norwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,847. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $61,660 median income, cost of living beats 31% of towns.
Is Norwood safe?
Norwood is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $512 per resident a year.
Compare Norwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norwood 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.
Norwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norwood 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.