Best PlacesWards, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wards, 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.
Wards ranks 43,351st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wards
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.
Wards' strengths and weaknesses
Where Wards ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap childcare$627 a month, better than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 67% of towns
Where Wards ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Household income$47,993 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wards
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wards home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,993, 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 Wards' effective rate of 0.72%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wards
Wards's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Wards.
Who works in Wards, and how
Work in Wards centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wards
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wards.
What the weather is like in Wards, month by month
Wards sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and September through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 66° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Wards
The nearest airport, Myrtle Beach International, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wards
Schools across Wards average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Williams TownshipC+ · 37% proficient
- Tabor City ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Chadbourn ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- Tabor City MiddleD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Whiteville HighB+ · 55% proficient
- South Columbus HighB · 47% proficient
- Columbus Career And College AcademyB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wards school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wards 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 Wards against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wards
Is Wards a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wards ranks 43,351st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wards expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,831. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $47,993 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Wards safe?
Wards is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $453 per resident a year.
Compare Wards with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wards. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wards 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.
Wards detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wards: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wards: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wards: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wards: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wards 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.