Best PlacesWarren County, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Warren 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.
Warren County ranks 2,956th 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 Warren 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.
Warren County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Warren County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
- QuietBetter than 81% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
- Cheap childcare$622 a month, better than 71% of counties
Where Warren County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Warren County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Warren County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $50,280; 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 Warren County's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Warren County
Warren County 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 Warren County.
Who works in Warren County, and how
Work in Warren 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 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Warren County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Warren County.
Is Warren County growing, and who is moving in?
Warren County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Vance County, NC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Warren County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Warren County, month by month
Warren County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Warren County
Raleigh-Durham International sits about 52 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 Warren County
Schools across Warren County average a D+, better than 17% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aycock ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Laurel Mill ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- Northside ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stem Early HighA+ · 69% proficient
- Red Oak MiddleB− · 41% proficient
- Terrell Lane MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Warren Early College HighA− · 60% proficient
- Warren New Tech HighC− · 26% proficient
- Northwest Halifax Collegiate And TechnicD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Warren County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Warren 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 Warren County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Warren County
Is Warren County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Warren County ranks 2,956th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on crime and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Warren County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,858. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $50,280 median income, cost of living beats 9% of counties.
Is Warren County safe?
Warren County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $808 per resident a year.
Compare Warren County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Warren County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Warren 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.
Warren County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Warren County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Warren County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Warren County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Warren County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Warren 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.