Best PlacesSouth Mills, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Mills, 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.
South Mills ranks 7,211th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Mills
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.
South Mills' strengths and weaknesses
Where South Mills ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
Where South Mills ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of towns
- Short commute29.9 minutes each way, better than only 34% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Mills
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Mills home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,660, 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 South Mills' effective rate of 0.46%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Mills
South Mills's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 South Mills.
Who works in South Mills, and how
Work in South Mills centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in South Mills
The coast is about 44 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across South Mills, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Mills, month by month
South Mills sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of South Mills
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Mills
Schools across South Mills average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grandy PrimaryA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Camden MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Camden IntermediateA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Camden County HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Mills school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Mills 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 South Mills against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Mills
Is South Mills a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Mills ranks 7,211th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, few empty homes, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Mills expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $359,306. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $93,660 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is South Mills safe?
South Mills is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare South Mills with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Mills. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Mills 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.
South Mills detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Mills: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Mills: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Mills: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Mills: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Mills 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.