[B]The 10 Best Cities in North Carolina[/B
...Simply watch a movie, to the best cities in our country in general, we are going state by state and giving it to you honestly.
Which is fitting for today’s state, North Carolina
If you’ve been reading our blog, you know the drill. In order to come up with our Top 10 Lists, we rely on certain criteria to objectively rank each city in order from best to worst. But more on that in a moment—here are the six criteria we used for NC.
Cost of living (percent above or below state’s average)
Crime rate
Education
Median household income
Home value
Amenities (including BBQ restaurants & churches)
We started with a list of the 50 most populous municipalities (cities, towns, villages, and Census Designated Places) in North Carolina and ranked them from one to 50 in each of the criteria above, with one being the best. Then we averaged the numbers for each criteria and gave them an overall Big Deal Score—the lower the number, the higher it ranked.
So how did these 10 cities make out list? North Carolina, whose state motto, “Esse quam viederi” means “to be rather than to seem.” North Carolina is nothing if not real, down to earth, and honest to goodness great place to live. So without further ado, here are the 10 best cities in North Carolina:
1. Apex
2. Wake Forest
3. Matthews
4. Morrisville
5. Garner
6. Clemmons
7. Cary
8. Chapel Hill
9. Huntersville
10. Mint Hill
How did we come up with these 10? Did we simply pick Apex for the top because that seemed fitting? Did we “Garner” the names from a list of popular places? Of course not. Keep reading to find out just how we came up with our list and why each city made it to the top.
And pardon the puns—but there are sure to be “Morrisville” where they came from.
Here’s How We Did It
If you’ve been reading our blog, you know the drill. In order to come up with our Top 10 Lists, we rely on certain criteria to objectively rank each city in order from best to worst. But more on that in a moment—here are the six criteria we used for NC.
Cost of living (percent above or below state’s average)
Crime rate
Education
Median household income
Home value
Amenities (including BBQ restaurants & churches)
We started with a list of the 50 most populous municipalities (cities, towns, villages, and Census Designated Places) in North Carolina and ranked them from one to 50 in each of the criteria above, with one being the best. Then we averaged the numbers for each criteria and gave them an overall Big Deal Score—the lower the number, the higher it ranked.
So how did these 10 cities make out list?
1. Apex
Perhaps fittingly, the word “apex” means “the top or highest point of something.” But that’s not why it came in at No. 1 on our list; it’s simply because Apex scored well in almost all of our criteria—an average median income 90 percent higher than the rest of the state; a crime rate 68 percent lower; and a high school degree attainment rate 25 percent higher.
As Town Manager, Bruce Radford put it, “now the [Movoto] readers will find out what we already know about Apex—wonderful weather, proximity to the famed Research Triangle Park, world class universities, great schools, low crime, healthy financial position, plenty of recreational opportunities, and ACC collegiate and professional sports all combine to create an award-winning quality of life for residents of ‘Apex, The Peak of Good Living’.”
No wonder this city is at the top!
2. Wake Forest
Not only did Wake Forest tie with Apex for some of the best weather in North Carolina, but they’ve got the parks and outdoor activities to really take advantage of that sunshine—hence their high rank in amenities. Falls Lake State Recreation Area, for example, stretches across 26,000 acres of woodlands and is home to the 12,000-acre Falls Lake.
If the outdoors aren’t your thing, though, don’t worry—Wake Forest also ranked well in their number of barbecue restaurants and churches per capita, which was a portion of its amenities score.. Because like any good southerner knows, Sunday is made for two things: church and barbecue. Okay, three, if you add football.
3. Matthews
his suburban town just outside of Charlotte came in at No. 3 on our list for getting an A Plus when it comes to education. Here in Matthews, the high school degree attainment rate is 22 percent higher than that of the rest of the state.
Matthews also has a beautiful historic downtown, a magnificent farmers market, and the Matthews Playhouse for theater. The Matthews Public Library is also one of the best in the state, complete with a historical mural of the town. A great place to study—perhaps why their public schools rank so well?
4. Morrisville
Morrisville is one of the two smallest towns on our list with a population of just over 20,000; but in this case, small certainly doesn’t mean a lack of things going on. In fact, the “small town feel, friendly neighborhoods, and parks and greenways appeal to generational residents and newcomers alike,” said Mayor Jackie Holcombe.
Morrisville made the No. 4 spot largely because of its crime rate 60 percent below the state average, its high school degree attainment rate, 23 percent above the state average, and its high home values, 67 percent higher than North Carolina’s average!
Residents of this town won’t be surprised to find it on our list, though; especially not Holcombe who knows full well of Morrisville’s charm. “Our quality schools, low cost of living, strong sense of community and low crime rate all combine to make Morrisville a highly desirable location to live and do business… We are proud to be ranked as the No. 4 town in the state."
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...Simply watch a movie, to the best cities in our country in general, we are going state by state and giving it to you honestly.
Which is fitting for today’s state, North Carolina
If you’ve been reading our blog, you know the drill. In order to come up with our Top 10 Lists, we rely on certain criteria to objectively rank each city in order from best to worst. But more on that in a moment—here are the six criteria we used for NC.
Cost of living (percent above or below state’s average)
Crime rate
Education
Median household income
Home value
Amenities (including BBQ restaurants & churches)
We started with a list of the 50 most populous municipalities (cities, towns, villages, and Census Designated Places) in North Carolina and ranked them from one to 50 in each of the criteria above, with one being the best. Then we averaged the numbers for each criteria and gave them an overall Big Deal Score—the lower the number, the higher it ranked.
So how did these 10 cities make out list? North Carolina, whose state motto, “Esse quam viederi” means “to be rather than to seem.” North Carolina is nothing if not real, down to earth, and honest to goodness great place to live. So without further ado, here are the 10 best cities in North Carolina:
1. Apex
2. Wake Forest
3. Matthews
4. Morrisville
5. Garner
6. Clemmons
7. Cary
8. Chapel Hill
9. Huntersville
10. Mint Hill
How did we come up with these 10? Did we simply pick Apex for the top because that seemed fitting? Did we “Garner” the names from a list of popular places? Of course not. Keep reading to find out just how we came up with our list and why each city made it to the top.
And pardon the puns—but there are sure to be “Morrisville” where they came from.
Here’s How We Did It
If you’ve been reading our blog, you know the drill. In order to come up with our Top 10 Lists, we rely on certain criteria to objectively rank each city in order from best to worst. But more on that in a moment—here are the six criteria we used for NC.
Cost of living (percent above or below state’s average)
Crime rate
Education
Median household income
Home value
Amenities (including BBQ restaurants & churches)
We started with a list of the 50 most populous municipalities (cities, towns, villages, and Census Designated Places) in North Carolina and ranked them from one to 50 in each of the criteria above, with one being the best. Then we averaged the numbers for each criteria and gave them an overall Big Deal Score—the lower the number, the higher it ranked.
So how did these 10 cities make out list?
1. Apex
Perhaps fittingly, the word “apex” means “the top or highest point of something.” But that’s not why it came in at No. 1 on our list; it’s simply because Apex scored well in almost all of our criteria—an average median income 90 percent higher than the rest of the state; a crime rate 68 percent lower; and a high school degree attainment rate 25 percent higher.
As Town Manager, Bruce Radford put it, “now the [Movoto] readers will find out what we already know about Apex—wonderful weather, proximity to the famed Research Triangle Park, world class universities, great schools, low crime, healthy financial position, plenty of recreational opportunities, and ACC collegiate and professional sports all combine to create an award-winning quality of life for residents of ‘Apex, The Peak of Good Living’.”
No wonder this city is at the top!
2. Wake Forest
Not only did Wake Forest tie with Apex for some of the best weather in North Carolina, but they’ve got the parks and outdoor activities to really take advantage of that sunshine—hence their high rank in amenities. Falls Lake State Recreation Area, for example, stretches across 26,000 acres of woodlands and is home to the 12,000-acre Falls Lake.
If the outdoors aren’t your thing, though, don’t worry—Wake Forest also ranked well in their number of barbecue restaurants and churches per capita, which was a portion of its amenities score.. Because like any good southerner knows, Sunday is made for two things: church and barbecue. Okay, three, if you add football.
3. Matthews
his suburban town just outside of Charlotte came in at No. 3 on our list for getting an A Plus when it comes to education. Here in Matthews, the high school degree attainment rate is 22 percent higher than that of the rest of the state.
Matthews also has a beautiful historic downtown, a magnificent farmers market, and the Matthews Playhouse for theater. The Matthews Public Library is also one of the best in the state, complete with a historical mural of the town. A great place to study—perhaps why their public schools rank so well?
4. Morrisville
Morrisville is one of the two smallest towns on our list with a population of just over 20,000; but in this case, small certainly doesn’t mean a lack of things going on. In fact, the “small town feel, friendly neighborhoods, and parks and greenways appeal to generational residents and newcomers alike,” said Mayor Jackie Holcombe.
Morrisville made the No. 4 spot largely because of its crime rate 60 percent below the state average, its high school degree attainment rate, 23 percent above the state average, and its high home values, 67 percent higher than North Carolina’s average!
Residents of this town won’t be surprised to find it on our list, though; especially not Holcombe who knows full well of Morrisville’s charm. “Our quality schools, low cost of living, strong sense of community and low crime rate all combine to make Morrisville a highly desirable location to live and do business… We are proud to be ranked as the No. 4 town in the state."
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