Best PlacesWaynesville, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waynesville, 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.
Waynesville ranks 13,286th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Waynesville
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.
Waynesville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waynesville ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
Where Waynesville ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 34% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 34% of towns
- Household income$64,765 median, better than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waynesville
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waynesville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,765, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Waynesville's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Waynesville
Waynesville 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 Waynesville.
Who works in Waynesville, and how
Work in Waynesville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Waynesville
Waynesville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waynesville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waynesville, month by month
Waynesville sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Waynesville
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waynesville
Schools across Waynesville average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bethel ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Riverbend ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Junaluska ElementaryA · 66% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bethel MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Waynesville MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Canton MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Haywood Early CollegeA+ · 92% proficient
- Jackson Co Early CollegeA+ · 85% proficient
- Swain County High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waynesville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waynesville 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 Waynesville against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Waynesville suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 76% of towns and health care access beats 81%.
Common questions about living in Waynesville
Is Waynesville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waynesville ranks 13,286th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waynesville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $299,146. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $64,765 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Waynesville safe?
Yes, Waynesville is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waynesville?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 27. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of towns.
Is Waynesville good for families?
Schools beat 96% of towns, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $719 a month.
Compare Waynesville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waynesville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waynesville 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.
Waynesville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waynesville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waynesville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waynesville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waynesville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waynesville 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.