Best PlacesUpward, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upward, 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.
Upward ranks 24,838th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upward
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.
Upward's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upward ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
Where Upward ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upward
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upward home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,689, 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 Upward's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Upward
Upward 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 Upward.
Who works in Upward, and how
Work in Upward centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to 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 1%
Life in Upward
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upward.
What the weather is like in Upward, month by month
Upward sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Upward
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upward
Schools across Upward average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Saluda Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Hendersonville ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Polk Central Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Polk County Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Flat Rock MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Apple Valley MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Henderson County Early CollegeA+ · 93% proficient
- Polk County Early CollegeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upward school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upward 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 Upward against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upward
Is Upward a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upward ranks 24,838th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, tree cover, and heat safety, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upward expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $269,145. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $56,689 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Upward safe?
Yes, Upward is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
Compare Upward with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upward. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upward 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.
Upward detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upward: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upward: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upward: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upward: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upward 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.