Best PlacesPelham, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pelham, 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.
Pelham ranks 35,128th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pelham
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.
Pelham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pelham ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 67% of towns
Where Pelham ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Household income$51,176 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 22% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pelham
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pelham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,176, 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 Pelham's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pelham
Pelham'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 Pelham.
Who works in Pelham, and how
Work in Pelham centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Pelham
Pelham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Pelham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pelham, month by month
Pelham sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 27° |
| April | 75° | 59° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Pelham
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pelham
Schools across Pelham average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- North ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rockingham County MiddleA− · 53% proficient
- N L Dillard MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockingham Co Early College HighA+ · 91% proficient
- Bartlett Yancey HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pelham school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pelham 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 Pelham against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pelham
Is Pelham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pelham ranks 35,128th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pelham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $150,371. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $51,176 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Pelham safe?
Pelham is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare Pelham with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pelham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pelham 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.
Pelham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pelham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pelham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pelham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pelham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pelham 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.