Best PlacesPolk County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Polk 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.
Polk County ranks 752nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Polk 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.
Polk County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Polk County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of counties
Where Polk County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 12% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Polk County
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,449, 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 Polk County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Polk County
Polk County runs older 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 Polk County.
Who works in Polk County, and how
Work in Polk County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Polk County
Polk County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Polk County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Polk County growing, and who is moving in?
Polk County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charleston, SC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Polk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Polk County, month by month
Polk County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Polk County
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Polk County
Schools across Polk County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Saluda Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Hendersonville ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Polk Central Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Polk County Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Chase Middle SchoolA− · 52% proficient
- Flat Rock MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Henderson County Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Rutherford Early College High SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Polk County Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk 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 Polk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Polk County
Is Polk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk County ranks 752nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, tree cover, and civic engagement, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,541. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $71,449 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Polk County safe?
Yes, Polk County is safer than 90% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
Compare Polk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk 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.
Polk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk 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.