Best PlacesOlyphic, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olyphic, 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.
Olyphic ranks 41,906th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Olyphic
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.
Olyphic's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olyphic ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap childcare$627 a month, better than 76% of towns
Where Olyphic ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Olyphic
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olyphic home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,049, 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 Olyphic's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Olyphic
Olyphic 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 Olyphic.
Who works in Olyphic, and how
Work in Olyphic centers on other services and hospitality & food. 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 2%
Life in Olyphic
The coast is about 39 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Olyphic, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Olyphic, month by month
Olyphic sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| April | 75° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 89° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Olyphic
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olyphic
Schools across Olyphic average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jessie Mae Monroe ElementaryB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shallotte MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Nakina MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
- North Myrtle Beach HighA− · 66% proficient
- Loris HighB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olyphic school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olyphic 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 Olyphic against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olyphic
Is Olyphic a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olyphic ranks 41,906th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on disaster risk and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olyphic expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,100. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,049 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Olyphic safe?
Olyphic is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $638 per resident a year.
Compare Olyphic with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olyphic. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olyphic 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.
Olyphic detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olyphic: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olyphic: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olyphic: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olyphic: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olyphic 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.