Best PlacesOlympia, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olympia, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Olympia ranks 17,226th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Olympia
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.
Olympia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olympia ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
Where Olympia ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Olympia
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olympia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,775, 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 Olympia's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Olympia
Olympia runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Olympia.
Who works in Olympia, and how
Work in Olympia centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Olympia
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Olympia.
What the weather is like in Olympia, month by month
Olympia sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Olympia
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olympia
Schools across Olympia average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pamlico County PrimaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pamlico County MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Pamlico County HighB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olympia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olympia 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 Olympia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olympia
Is Olympia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olympia ranks 17,226th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, state finances, and a strong job market, and lowest on disaster risk and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olympia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,200. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $98,775 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Olympia safe?
Yes, Olympia is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
Compare Olympia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olympia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olympia 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.
Olympia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olympia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olympia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olympia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olympia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olympia 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.