Best PlacesState Road, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around State Road, 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.
State Road ranks 21,156th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in State Road
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.
State Road's strengths and weaknesses
Where State Road ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Short commute22.3 minutes each way, better than 78% of towns
Where State Road ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Household income$61,246 median, better than only 30% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 31% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in State Road
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median State Road home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,246, 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 State Road's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 State Road
State Road runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for State Road.
Who works in State Road, and how
Work in State Road centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in State Road
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across State Road.
What the weather is like in State Road, month by month
State Road sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of State Road
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around State Road
Schools across State Road average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- C B Eller Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Mountain Park ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Dobson ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Wilkes Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Elkin MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Central MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkes Early College High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Surry Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Elkin HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every State Road school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
State Road 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 State Road against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in State Road
Is State Road a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, State Road ranks 21,156th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, state finances, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is State Road expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $203,011. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $61,246 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is State Road safe?
State Road is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
Compare State Road with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to State Road. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in State Road 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.
State Road detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for State Road: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in State Road: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of State Road: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in State Road: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
State Road 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.