Best PlacesOld Fort, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Fort, 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.
Old Fort ranks 22,033rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Old Fort
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.
Old Fort's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Fort ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
Where Old Fort ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 33% of towns
- Household income$63,671 median, better than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Old Fort
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Fort home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,671, 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 Old Fort'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, 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 Old Fort
Old Fort 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 Old Fort.
Who works in Old Fort, and how
Work in Old Fort centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Old Fort
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Old Fort.
What the weather is like in Old Fort, month by month
Old Fort sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Old Fort
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Old Fort
Schools across Old Fort average a B+, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Black Mountain PrimaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Old Fort Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Glenwood Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owen MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- R-s Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- West Mcdowell Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Rutherford Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Mcdowell Early CollegeA+ · 85% proficient
- Middle CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Old Fort school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Fort 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 Old Fort against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Old Fort
Is Old Fort a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Fort ranks 22,033rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, state finances, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Old Fort expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,098. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $63,671 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Old Fort safe?
Old Fort is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
Compare Old Fort with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Fort. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Fort 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.
Old Fort detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Fort: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Fort: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Fort: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Fort: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Fort 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.