Best PlacesWatha, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Watha, 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.
Watha ranks 38,747th 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 Watha
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.
Watha's strengths and weaknesses
Where Watha ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- School gradeB, better than 82% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 75% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 73% of towns
Where Watha ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Short commute34.2 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Watha
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Watha home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,790, 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 Watha's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Watha
Watha'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 Watha.
Who works in Watha, and how
Work in Watha centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Watha
The coast is about 44 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Watha, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Watha, month by month
Watha sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 47° | 36° |
| April | 78° | 65° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 67° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Watha
The nearest airport, Wilmington International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Watha
Schools across Watha average a B, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Penderlea ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Malpass Corner ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Pender MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Pender Early College HighA+ · 93% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Watha school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Watha 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 Watha against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Watha
Is Watha a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Watha ranks 38,747th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Watha expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,774. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $62,790 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Watha safe?
Watha is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $397 per resident a year.
Compare Watha with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Watha. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Watha 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.
Watha detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Watha: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Watha: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Watha: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Watha: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Watha 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.