Best PlacesRocky Point, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rocky Point, 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 Point ranks 21,031st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rocky Point
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 Point's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rocky Point ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
Where Rocky Point ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rocky Point
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rocky Point home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,762, 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 Point's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 10 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 Point
Rocky Point runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rocky Point.
Who works in Rocky Point, and how
Work in Rocky Point centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rocky Point
The coast is about 25 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Rocky Point, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rocky Point, month by month
Rocky Point sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Rocky Point
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rocky Point
Schools across Rocky Point average a B+, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Topsail ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Cape Fear ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Rocky Point ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Topsail MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Cape Fear MiddleB+ · 47% proficient
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Heide Trask HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rocky Point school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rocky Point 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 Point against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rocky Point
Is Rocky Point a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rocky Point ranks 21,031st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Rocky Point expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,270. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $84,762 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Rocky Point safe?
Yes, Rocky Point is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
Compare Rocky Point with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rocky Point. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rocky Point 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 Point detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rocky Point: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rocky Point: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rocky Point: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rocky Point: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rocky Point 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.