Best PlacesStanhope, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stanhope, 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.
Stanhope ranks 24,784th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stanhope
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.
Stanhope's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stanhope ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
- Short commute22.5 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 73% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of towns
Where Stanhope ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stanhope
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stanhope home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,705, 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 Stanhope's effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Stanhope
Stanhope runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Stanhope.
Who works in Stanhope, and how
Work in Stanhope centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Stanhope
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stanhope.
What the weather is like in Stanhope, month by month
Stanhope sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 42° | 31° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Stanhope
The nearest airport, Pitt-Greenville, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stanhope
Schools across Stanhope average a B−, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bailey ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southern Nash MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Nrm Early College High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stanhope school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stanhope 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 Stanhope against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stanhope
Is Stanhope a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stanhope ranks 24,784th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and short commutes, and lowest on education levels and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stanhope expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,800. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $81,705 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Stanhope safe?
Stanhope is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare Stanhope with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stanhope. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stanhope 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.
Stanhope detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stanhope: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stanhope: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stanhope: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stanhope: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stanhope 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.