Are you considering moving to North Carolina, but you want to be sure if it’s a good decision? Hence your question, “is North Carolina a good place to live?”
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There are a number of factors to consider before deciding if North Carolina is a good place for you to live. These include security, cost of living, foreigners’ hospitality, etc.
Is North Carolina a Good Place to Live?
After considering a lot of factors, and comparing North Carolina with other states in the US, I can comfortably say that North Carolina is a good place to live.
What Makes Seattle a Good or Bad Place to Live?
Here are the factors we considered:
1. Cost of living
One of the most important things to consider when moving to any place is the cost of living there. You don’t want to live where you live from hand to mouth because the cost of living is crazy.
North Carolina is known to be the 24th cheapest state to live in in 2022, in the US, according to MERIC. The cost of living is a little cheaper than the US national average cost of living.
A median house cost is around $289,300. If you want to rent a room apartment, it would cost you about $950, while a 2-bedroom apartment will be aout $1110, and a 3-bedroom apartment will be around $1430.
Cost of living does seem pretty okay in North Carolina, you wont’t have to break the bank before living comfortably to a certain extent. This is still very much relative, though.
2. Security and crime rate
Nobody wants to live in the middle of a war zone, or in a place where one’s life is unsafe. Every other factor would not matter if safety is out of the window.
The property crime rate in North Carolina is 37.7, which is a little higher than the US national average at 35.4. The violent crime rate in North Carolina is 21.4, which is a little lower than US national average at 22.7.
The good thing is that the violent crime rate has cumulatively reduced over the last 20 years, in North Carolina.
So, when it comes to safety and crime rate, I think we can say North Carolina is a little fair, and livable.
3. Weather
Giving a straightforward answer when it comes to the weather in North Carolina can be pretty hard, as the whole state is a little big.
The weather always seem pleasant in May, September and October, while July is always the hottest month of the year in North Carolina, which can go as high as 88.1 degree Fahrenheit. The snowiest month of the year in North Carolina is January, and the most uncomfortably humid months are June, July, and August.
So, if you end up moving to North Carolina, you should be prepare for these different months, and the kind of weather they come with. Don’t be caught unaware.
4. Amenities
This is another important factor to consider when considering moving to a new location. You don’t want to stay in a place where you and your family will not have access to basic amenities like education, health, good transportation, etc.
The healthcare in North Carolina is pretty okay, with doctor to individual rate being 191 doctors to 100,000 people. This is still good though it is lower than US national average which is 21o doctors to 100,000. The health cost seems to be about 10% higher than US national average.
5. Tax
Tax is also another strong factor to consider, as tax can be high in some states in the United States. You might think that it won’t hurt that you pay a few tens or hundreds of dollars every month.
There is no leisure of not paying tax in North Carolina, as income tax rate s 5.25%, and the sales tax rate is 4.75%.
6. Economy and employment opportunities
You definitely want to know how easy it can be to get good jobs in the place you are planning to move to, or how the economy of the place is.
This is one of the good parts of living in North Carolina. North Carolina’s job market is said to be increasing by 1.7% over the last few years.
Unemployment rate is at 4.7% which is lesser than US national average at 6.0%. It has been said that the job market in North Carolina will experience a 37.6% increase in 10 years, while that of US in general is 33.5%. This shows how much the job market is currently booming, and will continue to over the next few years.
Talking about income, the average annual salary in North Carolina is about $46,673. This is pretty much good, and note that this is not a standard income for everyone in North Carolina. It is just an average of all income level in North Carolina
Conclusion
I hope you have gotten all the necessary information you need to decide if living in North Carolina is a good place for you.
