Best PlacesWorley, NC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Worley, 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.
Worley ranks 15,024th 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 Worley
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.
Worley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Worley ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
Where Worley ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 30% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Worley
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Worley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $63,738, 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 Worley's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Worley
Worley 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 Worley.
Who works in Worley, and how
Work in Worley centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Worley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Worley.
What the weather is like in Worley, month by month
Worley 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 Worley
The nearest airport, Asheville Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Worley
Schools across Worley average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Riverbend ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Junaluska ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Jonathan Valley ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waynesville MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Canton MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Haywood Early CollegeA+ · 92% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Worley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Worley 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 Worley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Worley
Is Worley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Worley ranks 15,024th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and state finances, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Worley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $319,842. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $63,738 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Worley safe?
Yes, Worley is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare Worley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Worley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Worley 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.
Worley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Worley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Worley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Worley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Worley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Worley 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.