Best PlacesSandyfield, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sandyfield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sandyfield ranks 40,828th 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 Sandyfield
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.
Sandyfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sandyfield ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$613 a month, better than 78% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 76% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 74% of towns
Where Sandyfield ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$53,054 median, better than only 16% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 17% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sandyfield
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sandyfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,054, 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 Sandyfield's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Sandyfield
Sandyfield runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sandyfield.
Who works in Sandyfield, and how
Work in Sandyfield centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sandyfield
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Sandyfield, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sandyfield, month by month
Sandyfield sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Sandyfield
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sandyfield
Schools across Sandyfield average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Acme Delco ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Malpass Corner ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
- East Arcadia ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
- Elizabethtown MiddleD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- East Bladen HighC+ · 40% proficient
- East Columbus Junior-senior HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sandyfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sandyfield 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 Sandyfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sandyfield
Is Sandyfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sandyfield ranks 40,828th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and affordable childcare, and lowest on disaster risk and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sandyfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,593. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $53,054 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Sandyfield safe?
Sandyfield is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Sandyfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sandyfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sandyfield 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.
Sandyfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sandyfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sandyfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sandyfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sandyfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sandyfield 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.