Best PlacesRed Cross, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Cross, 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.
Red Cross ranks 8,925th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Red Cross
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.
Red Cross' strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Cross ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Red Cross ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute32.4 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Cross
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Cross home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,939, 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 Red Cross' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Red Cross
Red Cross runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Cross.
Who works in Red Cross, and how
Work in Red Cross centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Red Cross
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Red Cross.
What the weather is like in Red Cross, month by month
Red Cross sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Red Cross
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 34 miles away.
The best schools in and around Red Cross
Schools across Red Cross average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Locust ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Endy ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Oakboro Choice StemB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Stanly Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- West Stanly HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Cross school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Cross 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 Red Cross against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Red Cross
Is Red Cross a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Cross ranks 8,925th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Cross expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $287,664. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $76,939 median income, cost of living beats 65% of towns.
Is Red Cross safe?
Yes, Red Cross is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $271 per resident a year.
Compare Red Cross with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Cross. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Cross 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.
Red Cross detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Cross: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Cross: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Cross: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Cross: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Cross 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.