Waxhaw was in the news this week for a great reason. Turns out it took the number one spot on NerdWallet’s best places in North Carolina for young families. Next on the list was Stallings, Harrisburg and Wesley Chapel with Indian Trail and Marvin also making the top 10. They ranked 145 places in North Carolina, cities, towns, villages, and census-designated places. Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. They restricted their data to places with over 5,000 residents.
Nerdwallet used many different factors to rank cities. They looked at schools, jobs, income opportunities, friendly neighbors, and affordable living. They weighed all of these factors and came up with a score for each small town.
Here’s how NerdWallet came about their numbers:
- Home Affordability – looked at median home values and selected monthly homeowner costs
- Growth and Prosperity – evaluated past and current family incomes to gauge prosperity and prospects for economic growth
- Quality of Schools – incorporated ratings from GreatSchools, a nonprofit school ratings site to help determine the quality of the local schools
- Family Friendliness – examined the percentage of families with children in school and the poverty rate for families with young children to learn if a community is a positive environment for children.
Key takeaways from the NerdWallet study include:
- Top places are near big employers.
- Top places have strong family incomes
- Best options for families are small and midsize suburbs
Results of the study conclude that Waxhaw is one of the fastest growing towns in North Carolina. Waxhaw’s historic downtown is a big draw. Waxhaw is within 30 miles of Uptown Charlotte. With around 12,000 residents, Waxhaw ranks highly for quality of education and family friendliness. Home affordability was not great as the median home value was the fifth-priciest out of the top 10. Below are the full Waxhaw rankings:
- Great schools – 9 out of 10
- Median home price – $259,500
- Median selected monthly homeowner costs $1,704
- Family income growth 1999-2015 – 78.2%
- Percentage of families with at least one child under 18 – 49.7%
- Median family income – $98,317
- Percentage of families in poverty with a child under 5 years – 0
If you are interested in a home in the Waxhaw area, give us a call at (704) 525-4045. You can also view current listings on our website here.