Best PlacesThurmond, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thurmond, 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.
Thurmond ranks 27,892nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thurmond
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.
Thurmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thurmond ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 77% of towns
Where Thurmond ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$47,890 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thurmond
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thurmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $47,890, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Thurmond'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 Thurmond
Thurmond 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 Thurmond.
Who works in Thurmond, and how
Work in Thurmond centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Thurmond
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thurmond.
What the weather is like in Thurmond, month by month
Thurmond sees roughly 89 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 Thurmond
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 80 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thurmond
Schools across Thurmond average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- C B Eller Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Mountain Park ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Traphill Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Wilkes Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Central MiddleA · 61% proficient
- North Wilkes Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkes Early College High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Surry Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- East Wilkes High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thurmond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thurmond 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 Thurmond against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thurmond
Is Thurmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thurmond ranks 27,892nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thurmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,709. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $47,890 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Thurmond safe?
Yes, Thurmond is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
Compare Thurmond with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thurmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thurmond 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.
Thurmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thurmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thurmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thurmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thurmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thurmond 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.