Best PlacesOrange County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Orange County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Orange County ranks 70th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $100,485, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, an overheated housing market, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Orange 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 Orange County
The parts of Orange 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.
Durham
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and prices have run up less.
Hillsborough
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
Carrboro
Biking is better and more adults hold degrees.
Chapel Hill
Streets are more walkable, though more homes sit empty.
Mebane, Efland & Cedar Grove
Homes cost less, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Orange County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Orange County's strengths and weaknesses
Orange County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Population health and heat safety follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Orange County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
Where Orange County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,360 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Orange County
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orange County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $100,485, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Orange County's effective rate of 0.98%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Orange County
Orange County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Orange County.
Who works in Orange County, and how
Work in Orange County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 60%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Orange County
Orange County has more late-night spots per resident than 72% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Orange County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Orange County growing, and who is moving in?
Orange County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Chapel Hill, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Orange County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Orange County, month by month
Orange County sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Orange County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 18 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Orange County
Schools across Orange County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- The Expedition SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Morris Grove ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Glenwood ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Smith MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Phillips MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Mcdougle MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- East Chapel Hill HighA · 78% proficient
- Cedar Ridge HighA · 71% proficient
- Chapel Hill HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orange County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orange 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 Orange County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Orange County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 66% of counties and health care access beats 87%.
Common questions about living in Orange County
Is Orange County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orange County ranks 70th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs 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 Orange County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $501,549. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $100,485 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Orange County safe?
Orange County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $469 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Orange County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 32. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Orange County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Durham, Hillsborough, and Carrboro. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Orange County good for families?
Schools beat 93% of counties, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $1,360 a month.
Is Orange County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 95% of counties. About 27% of workers already work from home.
Compare Orange County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orange County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orange 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.
Orange County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orange County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orange County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orange County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orange County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orange 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.