Best PlacesUpper Hominy, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Hominy, 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.
Upper Hominy ranks 26,823rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Hominy
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.
Upper Hominy's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Hominy ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of towns
Where Upper Hominy ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 9% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$53,522 median, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Hominy
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Hominy home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,522, 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 Upper Hominy's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Hominy
Upper Hominy's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Upper Hominy.
Who works in Upper Hominy, and how
Work in Upper Hominy centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Upper Hominy
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Hominy.
What the weather is like in Upper Hominy, month by month
Upper Hominy sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Upper Hominy
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Hominy
Schools across Upper Hominy average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hominy Valley ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Candler ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Enka MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Middle CollegeB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Hominy school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Hominy 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 Upper Hominy against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Hominy
Is Upper Hominy a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Hominy ranks 26,823rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, tree cover, and state finances, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay 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 Upper Hominy expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,190. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $53,522 median income, cost of living beats 9% of towns.
Is Upper Hominy safe?
Upper Hominy is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Hominy with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Hominy. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Hominy 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.
Upper Hominy detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Hominy: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Hominy: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Hominy: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Hominy: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Hominy 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.