Best PlacesScotland County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Scotland 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.
Scotland County ranks 2,941st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Scotland 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 Scotland County
The parts of Scotland 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.
Laurel Hill
Tree cover is thicker, crime runs lower, and prices have run up less.
Wagram
Fewer households have young kids and commutes are longer.
Laurinburg
Fewer homes sit empty and more adults hold degrees.
Scores across Scotland County run from about the 2nd to the 38th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Scotland County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotland County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of counties
- Cheap childcare$604 a month, better than 72% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 62% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 59% of counties
Where Scotland County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Household income$48,624 median, better than only 7% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Scotland County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,624, 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 Scotland 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 Scotland County
Scotland 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 Scotland County.
Who works in Scotland County, and how
Work in Scotland County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Scotland County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Scotland County.
Is Scotland County growing, and who is moving in?
Scotland County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Scotland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Scotland County, month by month
Scotland County sees roughly 66 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 Scotland County
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 36 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 Scotland County
Schools across Scotland County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mineral Springs ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- South Johnson ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Laurel Hill ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ellerbe MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Spring Hill MiddleB− · 39% proficient
- Carver MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Scotland Early College HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Psrc Early College At RccA+ · 93% proficient
- Richmond Early College HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotland 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 Scotland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Scotland County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Scotland County
Is Scotland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotland County ranks 2,941st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and affordable childcare, and lowest on crime and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scotland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $117,811. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $48,624 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Scotland County safe?
Scotland County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $805 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scotland County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 32. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Scotland County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Laurel Hill, Wagram, and Laurinburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Scotland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotland 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.
Scotland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotland 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.