Best PlacesStevens Mill, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stevens Mill, 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.
Stevens Mill ranks 29,483rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stevens Mill
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.
Stevens Mill's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stevens Mill ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Stevens Mill ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$48,908 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stevens Mill
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stevens Mill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $48,908; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Stevens Mill's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stevens Mill
Stevens Mill runs younger 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 Stevens Mill.
Who works in Stevens Mill, and how
Work in Stevens Mill centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Stevens Mill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stevens Mill.
What the weather is like in Stevens Mill, month by month
Stevens Mill sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 50° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Stevens Mill
The nearest airport, Albert J Ellis, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stevens Mill
Schools across Stevens Mill average a B, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Grantham ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Princeton ElementaryB · 46% proficient
- Rosewood ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rosewood MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- Four Oaks MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- Grantham MiddleC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Wayne Early / Middle College HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Johnston Co Early College AcademyA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stevens Mill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stevens Mill 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 Stevens Mill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stevens Mill
Is Stevens Mill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stevens Mill ranks 29,483rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stevens Mill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,551. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $48,908 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Stevens Mill safe?
Stevens Mill is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare Stevens Mill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stevens Mill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stevens Mill 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.
Stevens Mill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stevens Mill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stevens Mill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stevens Mill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stevens Mill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stevens Mill 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.