Best PlacesOlivia, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olivia, 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.
Olivia ranks 16,934th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Olivia
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.
Olivia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olivia ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of towns
Where Olivia ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute33.6 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Olivia
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olivia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,848, 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 Olivia's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Olivia
Olivia runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Olivia.
Who works in Olivia, and how
Work in Olivia centers on retail trade and other services. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Olivia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Olivia.
What the weather is like in Olivia, month by month
Olivia sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 42° | 30° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Olivia
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olivia
Schools across Olivia average a B+, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tramway ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Benhaven ElementaryB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Western Harnett MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Highland MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Sanlee Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Lee Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Western Harnett HighB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olivia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olivia 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 Olivia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olivia
Is Olivia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olivia ranks 16,934th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olivia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,038. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $79,848 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Olivia safe?
Olivia is safer than 42% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
Compare Olivia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olivia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olivia 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.
Olivia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olivia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olivia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olivia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olivia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olivia 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.