Best PlacesOnslow County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Onslow County, 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.
Onslow County ranks 1,410th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on a strong job market and population health. The weaker spots are disaster risk, an overheated housing market, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Onslow County
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.
The best areas in Onslow County
The parts of Onslow County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Sneads Ferry
More residents vote, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Holly Ridge
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Camp Lejeune & Hubert
Commutes are shorter, though fewer households have young kids.
Maysville
Crime runs lower and health care is easier to reach.
Midway Park & Swansboro
Tree cover is thicker.
Richlands
Biking is worse.
Jacksonville
Advertised internet is faster, though prices have run up more.
Tarawa Terrace
Local pay stretches less far and homes cost more.
Scores across Onslow County run from about the 2nd to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Onslow County's strengths and weaknesses
Onslow County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market, population health, and state finances carry most of that.
The one real hole is disaster risk, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and the weather also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Onslow County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of counties
Where Onslow County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 22% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Onslow County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Onslow County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,759, 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 Onslow County's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Onslow County
Onslow County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Onslow County.
Who works in Onslow County, and how
Work in Onslow County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Onslow County
Onslow County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 28 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Onslow County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Onslow County growing, and who is moving in?
Onslow County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charlotte, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Onslow County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Onslow County, month by month
Onslow County sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 51° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 66° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Onslow County
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Onslow County
Schools across Onslow County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Swansboro ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Parkwood ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Dixon ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Bridge MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Swansboro MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Dixon MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Onslow Early CollegeA+ · 95% proficient
- Swansboro HighA · 69% proficient
- Dixon HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Onslow County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Onslow County 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 Onslow County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Onslow County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Onslow County
Is Onslow County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Onslow County ranks 1,410th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, population health, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Onslow County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $241,635. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,759 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Onslow County safe?
Onslow County is safer than 52% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Onslow County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 34. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Onslow County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sneads Ferry, Holly Ridge, and Camp Lejeune & Hubert. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Onslow County good for families?
Schools beat 87% of counties, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $776 a month.
Is Onslow County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Onslow County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Onslow County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Onslow County 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.
Onslow County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Onslow County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Onslow County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Onslow County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Onslow County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Onslow County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.