Best PlacesRowan County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rowan County, 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.
Rowan County ranks 1,078th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on state finances and a strong job market. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, the weather, and long commutes.
The best neighborhoods in Rowan 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 Rowan County
The parts of Rowan 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.
China Grove
It is quieter, crime runs lower, and local pay stretches further.
Rockwell & Gold Hill
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Granite Quarry
More residents vote.
Kannapolis & Landis
Scores close to Granite Quarry, except that health care is harder to reach here.
Cleveland
More homes sit empty and biking is worse.
Spencer
Schools score lower.
Salisbury
Commutes are shorter, though incomes run lower.
Rowan County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Rowan County's strengths and weaknesses
Rowan County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. State finances, a strong job market, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. An overheated housing market, the weather, and long commutes hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Rowan County to another than it does between Rowan County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Rowan County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 84% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of counties
- TransitBetter than 80% of counties
Where Rowan County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 77 pleasant days a year, better than only 34% of counties
- Short commute26.2 minutes each way, better than only 35% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 37% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 39% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rowan County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rowan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,824, 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 Rowan County's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 Rowan County
Rowan County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rowan County.
Who works in Rowan County, and how
Work in Rowan County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rowan County
Rowan County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rowan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rowan County growing, and who is moving in?
Rowan County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Charlotte, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rowan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rowan County, month by month
Rowan County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Rowan County
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 37 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rowan County
Schools across Rowan County average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cool Spring ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Bostian ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Jackson Park ElementaryB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kannapolis MiddleB · 45% proficient
- North Stanly MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- China Grove MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
- Carson HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rowan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rowan 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 Rowan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rowan County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Rowan County
Is Rowan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rowan County ranks 1,078th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, a strong job market, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rowan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,497. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $68,824 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Rowan County safe?
Yes, Rowan County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $369 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rowan County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 31. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rowan County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are China Grove, Rockwell & Gold Hill, and Granite Quarry. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rowan County good for families?
Schools beat 67% of counties, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $734 a month.
Is Rowan County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 51% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 77% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rowan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rowan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rowan 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.
Rowan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rowan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rowan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rowan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rowan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rowan 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.