Best PlacesVance County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Vance County, 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.
Vance County ranks 2,465th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Vance 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.
Vance County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vance County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 70% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 70% of counties
Where Vance County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of counties
- Household income$54,955 median, better than only 16% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Vance County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vance County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,955, 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 Vance County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vance County
Vance County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Vance County.
Who works in Vance County, and how
Work in Vance County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Vance County
Vance County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Vance County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Vance County growing, and who is moving in?
Vance County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Raleigh, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Vance County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Vance County, month by month
Vance County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 70° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Vance County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 38 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.7 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Vance County
Schools across Vance County average a C, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aycock ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Tar River ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
- Stovall-shaw ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stem Early HighA+ · 69% proficient
- Franklinton MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Northern Granville MiddleC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Vance Co Early CollegeA+ · 80% proficient
- Franklinton HighB · 49% proficient
- Warren New Tech HighC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vance County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vance 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 Vance County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Vance County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Vance County
Is Vance County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vance County ranks 2,465th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cheap car insurance, and tree cover, and lowest on crime and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vance County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,486. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,955 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Vance County safe?
Vance County is safer than 6% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $703 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vance County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 30. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 46% of counties.
Is Vance County good for families?
Schools beat 49% of counties, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $688 a month.
Compare Vance County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vance County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vance 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.
Vance County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vance County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vance County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vance County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vance County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vance 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.