Best PlacesWoodleaf, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Woodleaf, 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.
Woodleaf ranks 14,423rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Woodleaf
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.
Woodleaf's strengths and weaknesses
Where Woodleaf ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of towns
Where Woodleaf ranks low
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 25% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Woodleaf
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Woodleaf home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,822, 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 Woodleaf's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Woodleaf
Woodleaf 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 Woodleaf.
Who works in Woodleaf, and how
Work in Woodleaf centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Woodleaf
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Woodleaf.
What the weather is like in Woodleaf, month by month
Woodleaf sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Woodleaf
The nearest airport, Concord-Padgett Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Woodleaf
Schools across Woodleaf average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cool Spring ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Mt Ulla ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Cooleemee ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Davie MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
- West Rowan MiddleC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Davie County Early College HighA+ · 83% proficient
- Rowan Co Early CollegeA− · 65% proficient
- West Rowan HighC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Woodleaf school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Woodleaf 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 Woodleaf against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Woodleaf
Is Woodleaf a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Woodleaf ranks 14,423rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on long commutes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Woodleaf expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,863. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $81,822 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Woodleaf safe?
Woodleaf is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare Woodleaf with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Woodleaf. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Woodleaf 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.
Woodleaf detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Woodleaf: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Woodleaf: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Woodleaf: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Woodleaf: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Woodleaf 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.