Best PlacesSurry County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Surry County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Surry County ranks 1,415th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Surry 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 Surry County
The parts of Surry 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
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Dobson
Fewer homes sit empty and it is quieter.
Pilot Mountain
Crime runs lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Elkin & State Road
Prices have run up more.
Lowgap
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Mount Airy
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Scores across Surry County run from about the 13th to the 76th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Surry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Surry County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of counties
Where Surry County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 21% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Surry County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Surry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,408, 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 Surry County'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, 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 Surry County
Surry 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 Surry County.
Who works in Surry County, and how
Work in Surry County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Surry County
Surry County has more late-night spots per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Surry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Surry County growing, and who is moving in?
Surry County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Winston Salem, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Surry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Surry County, month by month
Surry County sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Surry County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Surry County
Schools across Surry County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shoals ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- White Plains ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Copeland ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elkin MiddleA · 65% proficient
- Central MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Meadowview Magnet MiddleA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Surry Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Elkin HighA · 78% proficient
- Mount Airy HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Surry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Surry 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 Surry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Surry County suits
Common questions about living in Surry County
Is Surry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Surry County ranks 1,415th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, low disaster risk, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Surry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,313. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $59,408 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Surry County safe?
Surry County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Surry County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 31. That works out to about 88 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Surry County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pinnacle, Dobson, and Pilot Mountain. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Surry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Surry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Surry 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.
Surry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Surry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Surry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Surry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Surry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Surry 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.