Is Cooleemee a good place to live?
The best of Cooleemee’s subject grades are an A for cost of living and history and an A− for the outdoors; the weakest is a C− for walkability. Only 19 of North Carolina’s 450 towns score higher on cost of living. Only 26 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score higher on history. The biggest park or preserve is Cooleemee, at 37 acres. Only 39 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score higher on the outdoors. Cooleemee has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Cooleemee stand out
Where Cooleemee beats most towns.
Typical home value
1,002 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Cooleemee grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Cooleemee is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Cooleemee: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cooleemee, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Cooleemee.
A typical Cooleemee home is worth about $126K
The typical Cooleemee home is worth about $126,000, down 7.6% in a year, 62% below the North Carolina typical home. Cooleemee’s median rent is $968 a month, near the North Carolina town median ($1,085 a month) and below the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Cooleemee | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $968 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
On state tests, Cooleemee’s schools beat 63% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Davie County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooleemee ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 462 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
With 0.7 jobs for every working resident, most of Cooleemee’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Cooleemee for work: only 2% work in town. Cooleemee’s median household income is $47,000, where North Carolina’s towns sit at $69,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Jobs based in Cooleemee grew to 234 in 2023, 161 more than in 2013.
| Cooleemee | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $47,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 13% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Cooleemee is less healthy than 72% of U.S. towns
Cooleemee beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 27% of Cooleemee adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Cooleemee | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Cooleemee | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.6% | 13.9% |
| More smokers | 17.9% | 13.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mild winters and hot summers in Cooleemee
Cooleemee has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 28° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Cooleemee has set aside 7.8% of its land for conservation
0.1 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Cooleemee | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 7.8% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cooleemee | — | 37 |
| 2. Zachary House/Recreation Center | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Cooleemee
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lake Norman and 17 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cooleemee. Close and well known come first.
31 mi LakeLake Norman
28 mi Stadium & arenaAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium
26 mi MuseumOld Salem
37 mi MountainPilot Mountain
11 mi MuseumNorth Carolina Transportation Museum
27 mi MuseumReynolda House Museum of American ArtPhoto credits
Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium: BobHWS, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old Salem: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pilot Mountain: Berean Hunter, CC BY-SA 2.5 · North Carolina Transportation Museum: Unknown, Public domain · Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Zsrarticle, CC BY-SA 4.0
Everything we know about Cooleemee
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Cooleemee
About 6 of every 100 Cooleemee residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
98% of working residents leave Cooleemee for work
Where Cooleemee’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Famous people from Cooleemee
4 notable people were born in Cooleemee.
About Cooleemee
Town in the United States
Cooleemee ( KOO-lə-mee) is a town in Davie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 940 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 0.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 738 ft
- ZIP code
- 27014
- Area code
- 336
Questions about Cooleemee
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Cooleemee, NC expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
What is Cooleemee, NC known for?
Cooleemee has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 4 notable people were born here, including Buck Jordan and Jack Crouch.