Best PlacesPeru, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Peru, 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.
Peru ranks 14,108th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Peru
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.
Peru's strengths and weaknesses
Where Peru ranks high
- Short commute6.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$125,491 median, better than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where Peru ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
Who lives in Peru
Peru runs younger 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 Peru.
Who works in Peru, and how
Work in Peru centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 42%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 42%
Life in Peru
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Peru, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Peru, month by month
Peru sees roughly 68 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 Peru
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Peru
Schools across Peru average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dixon ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Sand Ridge ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Swansboro MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Dixon MiddleA · 59% proficient
- Hunters Creek MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Swansboro HighA · 69% proficient
- Dixon HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Peru school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Peru 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 Peru against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Peru
Is Peru a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Peru ranks 14,108th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, population health, and what local pay buys, and lowest on disaster risk and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Peru safe?
Peru is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $678 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Peru?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 34. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of towns.
Compare Peru with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Peru. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Peru 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.
Peru detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Peru: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Peru: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Peru: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Peru: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Peru 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.
- 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.