Living in New Bern, NC
Small city in North Carolina
New Bern is a small city in North Carolina, home to about 32,000 people, with 139,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, a car is essential. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is New Bern a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $280k and rents for $1,590 a month
- Low taxes: about $1,615 state income tax per resident, 0.77% property tax
- Strong healthcare: 2 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
👎 Cons
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
- Smaller job market: about 139,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Fewer graduates: 30% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how New Bern ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in New Bern: common questions
What is the cost of living in New Bern?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $280k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,590 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 92, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in New Bern?
North Carolina collects about $1,615 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.77% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is New Bern safe?
Violent crime is close to the national rate (1.1× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in New Bern?
Public schools in New Bern test close to the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 16 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in New Bern?
New Bern has mild winters: winter days average around 57°F and summer days around 88°F.
Does New Bern get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from hurricanes: 9 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 1.05 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to New Bern?
The nearest major airport is RDU, about 111 mi away.
How New Bern scores
Each bar compares New Bern with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like New Bern
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in North Carolina.
Is New Bern right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.