Best PlacesWaxhaw, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waxhaw, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waxhaw ranks 29th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waxhaw
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.
Waxhaw's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waxhaw ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 98% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 97% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of cities
- QuietBetter than 96% of cities
Where Waxhaw ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Short commute32.1 minutes each way, better than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Waxhaw
A household needs to earn about $153,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waxhaw home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $160,157, 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 Waxhaw's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waxhaw
Waxhaw's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waxhaw.
Who works in Waxhaw, and how
Work in Waxhaw centers on finance & insurance and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Waxhaw
Waxhaw has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of cities and more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waxhaw and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waxhaw, month by month
Waxhaw sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 76° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Waxhaw
Charlotte/Douglas International sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.9 million passengers in 2025, with 213 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Waxhaw
Schools across Waxhaw average an A, better than 97% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rea View ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Weddington ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Marvin ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marvin Ridge MiddleA+ · 89% proficient
- Weddington MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Cuthbertson MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Academy Of Technology And ArtsA+ · 95% proficient
- Union County Early CollegeA+ · 90% proficient
- Cuthbertson HighA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waxhaw school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waxhaw 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 Waxhaw against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Waxhaw suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Waxhaw
Is Waxhaw a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waxhaw ranks 29th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and good schools, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waxhaw expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $602,123. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $160,157 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Waxhaw safe?
Yes, Waxhaw is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waxhaw?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 32. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of cities.
Is Waxhaw good for families?
Schools beat 97% of cities, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $915 a month.
Compare Waxhaw with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waxhaw. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waxhaw 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.
Waxhaw detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waxhaw: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waxhaw: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waxhaw: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waxhaw: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waxhaw 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.