Best PlacesPlaza Midwood, Charlotte, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plaza Midwood, Charlotte, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte ranks 198th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
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.
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plaza Midwood, Charlotte ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where Plaza Midwood, Charlotte ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 25% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
A household needs to earn about $195,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plaza Midwood, Charlotte home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $136,089, 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 Plaza Midwood, Charlotte's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte 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 Plaza Midwood, Charlotte.
Who works in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte, and how
Work in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 37%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Plaza Midwood, Charlotte and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte, month by month
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 31° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 8 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
Schools across Plaza Midwood, Charlotte average a B, better than 85% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Shamrock Gardens ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Walter G. Byers SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eastway MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Levine Middle College High SchA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plaza Midwood, Charlotte school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte 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 Plaza Midwood, Charlotte against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte
Is Plaza Midwood, Charlotte a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plaza Midwood, Charlotte ranks 198th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plaza Midwood, Charlotte expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $760,249. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $136,089 median income, cost of living beats 97% of neighborhoods.
Is Plaza Midwood, Charlotte safe?
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte is safer than 32% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $627 per resident a year.
Compare Plaza Midwood, Charlotte with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plaza Midwood, Charlotte. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte 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.
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plaza Midwood, Charlotte: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plaza Midwood, Charlotte: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plaza Midwood, Charlotte: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plaza Midwood, Charlotte 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.