Best PlacesThurman, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thurman, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Thurman ranks 7,016th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thurman
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.
Thurman's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thurman ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
Where Thurman ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thurman
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thurman home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,117, 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 Thurman's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Thurman
Thurman 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 Thurman.
Who works in Thurman, and how
Work in Thurman centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Thurman
The coast is about 45 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Thurman, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Thurman, month by month
Thurman sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Thurman
The nearest airport, Coastal Carolina Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thurman
Schools across Thurman average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Creekside ElementaryA · 69% proficient
- Brinson Memorial ElementaryB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grover C Fields MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Early College East HighA+ · 95% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thurman school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thurman 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 Thurman against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thurman
Is Thurman a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thurman ranks 7,016th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, a strong job market, and health care access, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Thurman expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $343,765. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $90,117 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Thurman safe?
Yes, Thurman is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $198 per resident a year.
Compare Thurman with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thurman. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thurman 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.
Thurman detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thurman: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thurman: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thurman: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thurman: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thurman 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.