Best PlacesSnowden, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Snowden, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Snowden ranks 1,616th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Snowden
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.
Snowden's strengths and weaknesses
Where Snowden ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$125,865 median, better than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
Where Snowden ranks low
- Short commute37.6 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 33% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 41% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 78 pleasant days a year, better than only 43% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Snowden
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Snowden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,865, 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 Snowden's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Snowden
Snowden 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 Snowden.
Who works in Snowden, and how
Work in Snowden centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 0%
Life in Snowden
The coast is about 39 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Snowden, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Snowden, month by month
Snowden sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 71° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Snowden
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Snowden
Schools across Snowden average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Shawboro Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Moyock ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moyock MiddleA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- The Jp Knapp Ech (i)schoolA+ · 91% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Snowden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Snowden 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 Snowden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Snowden
Is Snowden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Snowden ranks 1,616th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and high incomes, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Snowden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $451,947. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $125,865 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Snowden safe?
Yes, Snowden is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $251 per resident a year.
Compare Snowden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Snowden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Snowden 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.
Snowden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Snowden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Snowden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Snowden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Snowden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Snowden 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.