Best PlacesRanlo, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ranlo, 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.
Ranlo ranks 7,267th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ranlo
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.
Ranlo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ranlo ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
Where Ranlo ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 29% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ranlo
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ranlo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,166, 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 Ranlo's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ranlo
Ranlo runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ranlo.
Who works in Ranlo, and how
Work in Ranlo centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ranlo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ranlo.
What the weather is like in Ranlo, month by month
Ranlo sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 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 | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Ranlo
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 11 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 Ranlo
Schools across Ranlo average a B+, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Belmont ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Lowell ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Carr ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stanley MiddleA · 59% proficient
- W C Friday Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Holbrook MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Gaston Early College High SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Warlick AcademyF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ranlo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ranlo 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 Ranlo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ranlo
Is Ranlo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ranlo ranks 7,267th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, few empty homes, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ranlo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,568. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $77,166 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Ranlo safe?
Yes, Ranlo is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $238 per resident a year.
Compare Ranlo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ranlo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ranlo 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.
Ranlo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ranlo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ranlo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ranlo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ranlo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ranlo 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.