Best PlacesStanly County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stanly County, 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.
Stanly County ranks 1,316th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stanly 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 Stanly County
The parts of Stanly 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.
Locust
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Stanfield & Oakboro
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
New London
Prices have run up less.
Badin
Heat risk is higher.
Norwood
Scores close to Badin, except that it is quieter here.
Albemarle
Commutes are shorter and streets are more walkable.
Scores across Stanly County run from about the 3rd to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Stanly County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stanly County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of counties
Where Stanly County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- Short commute28.1 minutes each way, better than only 25% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 26% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stanly County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stanly County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,783, 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 Stanly County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stanly County
Stanly 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 Stanly County.
Who works in Stanly County, and how
Work in Stanly County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Stanly County
Stanly County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stanly County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stanly County growing, and who is moving in?
Stanly County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Charlotte, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stanly County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stanly County, month by month
Stanly County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 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 | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 76° | 61° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Stanly County
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 40 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stanly County
Schools across Stanly County average a B+, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Locust ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- New Salem ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Badin ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Stanly Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- North Stanly MiddleB− · 43% proficient
- South Stanly MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Stanly Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
- Gray Stone DayA · 79% proficient
- Stanly Stem Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stanly County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stanly 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 Stanly County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stanly County suits
Common questions about living in Stanly County
Is Stanly County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stanly County ranks 1,316th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, good schools, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stanly County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $239,892. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $62,783 median income, cost of living beats 37% of counties.
Is Stanly County safe?
Stanly County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stanly County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 30. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Stanly County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Locust, Stanfield & Oakboro, and New London. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Stanly County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stanly County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stanly 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.
Stanly County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stanly County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stanly County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stanly County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stanly County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stanly 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.