Best PlacesRobeson County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Robeson County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Robeson County ranks 2,924th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. It does better on state finances, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Robeson 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.
The best areas in Robeson County
The parts of Robeson County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lumberton
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and health care is easier to reach.
St. Pauls & Parkton
More households have young kids.
Shannon
Crime runs lower and prices have run up less.
Maxton & Red Springs
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Pembroke
Incomes run lower.
Rowland
Heat risk is higher and health outcomes score lower.
Fairmont
Schools score lower.
Scores across Robeson County run from about the 2nd to the 59th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Robeson County's strengths and weaknesses
Robeson County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. State finances, cheap car insurance, and good schools carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: the cost of living against local pay, low incomes, and education levels all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Robeson County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 75% of counties
- School gradeC+, better than 74% of counties
- Cheap childcare$624 a month, better than 70% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 59% of counties
Where Robeson County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Household income$44,199 median, better than only 3% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Robeson County
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Robeson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,199, 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 Robeson County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Robeson County
Robeson County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Robeson County.
Who works in Robeson County, and how
Work in Robeson County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Robeson County
Robeson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Robeson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Robeson County growing, and who is moving in?
Robeson County has lost about 12% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fayetteville, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Robeson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Robeson County, month by month
Robeson County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 44° | 32° |
| April | 79° | 64° | 49° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Robeson County
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Robeson County
Schools across Robeson County average a C+, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southeastern AcademyA+ · 82% proficient
- Tanglewood ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- South Johnson ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cis AcademyB− · 40% proficient
- Spring Hill MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Littlefield MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Psrc Early College At RccA+ · 93% proficient
- Scotland High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Purnell Swett HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Robeson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Robeson 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 Robeson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Robeson County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Robeson County
Is Robeson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Robeson County ranks 2,924th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and good schools, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Robeson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,795. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $44,199 median income, cost of living beats 2% of counties.
Is Robeson County safe?
Robeson County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $625 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Robeson County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 32. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Robeson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lumberton, St. Pauls & Parkton, and Shannon. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Robeson County good for families?
Schools beat 74% of counties, crime safety beats 11%, and childcare runs $624 a month.
Is Robeson County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 2% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 50% of counties. About 5% of workers already work from home.
Compare Robeson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Robeson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Robeson 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.
Robeson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Robeson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Robeson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Robeson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Robeson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Robeson 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.