Best PlacesVarnum, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Varnum, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Varnum ranks 20,719th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Varnum
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.
Varnum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Varnum ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of towns
Where Varnum ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Varnum
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Varnum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,919; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Varnum's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Varnum
Varnum 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 Varnum.
Who works in Varnum, and how
Work in Varnum centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Varnum
The coast is about 22 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Varnum, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Varnum, month by month
Varnum sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 73° | 64° | 56° |
| July | 89° | 82° | 76° |
| October | 77° | 68° | 60° |
Flying in and out of Varnum
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Varnum
Schools across Varnum average an A−, better than 91% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Classical Charter Schools Of SouthportA− · 60% proficient
- Virginia Williamson ElemB+ · 51% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cedar Grove MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Brunswick County Early CollegeA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Varnum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Varnum 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 Varnum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Varnum
Is Varnum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Varnum ranks 20,719th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on disaster risk and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Varnum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,856. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $70,919 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Varnum safe?
Varnum is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $339 per resident a year.
Compare Varnum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Varnum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Varnum 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.
Varnum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Varnum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Varnum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Varnum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Varnum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Varnum 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.