Best PlacesRocky Cross, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rocky 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.
Rocky Cross ranks 26,322nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rocky 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.
Rocky Cross' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rocky Cross ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 75% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 68% of towns
Where Rocky Cross ranks low
- Short commute44.2 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rocky Cross
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rocky Cross home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,247, 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 Rocky Cross' effective rate of 0.68%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rocky Cross
Rocky Cross runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rocky Cross.
Who works in Rocky Cross, and how
Work in Rocky Cross centers on construction and admin & support services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Rocky Cross
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rocky Cross.
What the weather is like in Rocky Cross, month by month
Rocky Cross sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Rocky Cross
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Rocky Cross
Schools across Rocky Cross average a B, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Middlesex ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Corinth-holders ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Bunn ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Archer Lodge MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- Zebulon MiddleB · 46% proficient
- Bunn MiddleB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Nrm Early College High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Franklin County Early CollegeA · 78% proficient
- Vernon Malone College And Career AcademyA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rocky Cross school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rocky 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 Rocky Cross against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rocky Cross
Is Rocky Cross a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rocky Cross ranks 26,322nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and good schools, and lowest on long commutes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rocky Cross expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $209,558. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,247 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Rocky Cross safe?
Rocky Cross is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $416 per resident a year.
Compare Rocky Cross with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rocky Cross. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rocky 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.
Rocky Cross detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rocky Cross: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rocky Cross: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rocky Cross: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rocky Cross: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rocky 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.