Best PlacesSpring Lake, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spring Lake, 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.
Spring Lake ranks 25,821st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spring Lake
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.
Spring Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spring Lake ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 80% of towns
- BikingBetter than 77% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 72% of towns
Where Spring Lake ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spring Lake
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spring Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,522, 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 Spring Lake's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spring Lake
Spring Lake runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spring Lake.
Who works in Spring Lake, and how
Work in Spring Lake centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Spring Lake
Spring Lake has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Spring Lake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spring Lake, month by month
Spring Lake sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 57, 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 | 57° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 78° | 64° | 50° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Spring Lake
The nearest airport, Fayetteville Regional/Grannis Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spring Lake
Schools across Spring Lake average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South Harnett ElementaryC+ · 35% proficient
- Overhills ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- College Lakes ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Western Harnett MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Overhills MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Reid Ross Classical MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Cumberland International Early CollegeA+ · 83% proficient
- Pine Forest HighA− · 60% proficient
- Overhills HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spring Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Spring Lake suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Spring Lake
Is Spring Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spring Lake ranks 25,821st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cell coverage, and walkability, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Spring Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,295. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $63,522 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Spring Lake safe?
Spring Lake is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $512 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Spring Lake?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 57 with lows near 32. That works out to about 59 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of towns.
Is Spring Lake good for families?
Schools beat 70% of towns, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $742 a month.
Compare Spring Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spring Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spring Lake 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.
Spring Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spring Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spring Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spring Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spring Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spring Lake 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.