Best PlacesStokes County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stokes 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.
Stokes County ranks 1,246th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stokes 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 Stokes County
The parts of Stokes 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.
Pinnacle
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and heat risk is lower.
King
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Walnut Cove
More households have young kids, though fewer residents vote.
Scores across Stokes County run from about the 19th to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Stokes County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stokes County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of counties
Where Stokes County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 5% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 8% of counties
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stokes County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stokes County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,754, 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 Stokes 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 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 Stokes County
Stokes County 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 Stokes County.
Who works in Stokes County, and how
Work in Stokes County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Stokes County
Stokes County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stokes County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stokes County growing, and who is moving in?
Stokes County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Winston Salem, NC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stokes County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stokes County, month by month
Stokes County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Stokes County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stokes County
Schools across Stokes County average an A−, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Westfield ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Sandy Ridge Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Poplar Springs Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pilot Mountain MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Piney Grove Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Chestnut Grove Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Surry Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Stokes Early College High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- West Stokes High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stokes County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stokes 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 Stokes County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stokes County suits
Common questions about living in Stokes County
Is Stokes County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stokes County ranks 1,246th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stokes County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,315. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,754 median income, cost of living beats 32% of counties.
Is Stokes County safe?
Yes, Stokes County is safer than 58% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stokes County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 29. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Stokes County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pinnacle, King, and Walnut Cove. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Stokes County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stokes County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stokes 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.
Stokes County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stokes County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stokes County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stokes County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stokes County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stokes 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.