A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

St. Stephens$1,200/mo

Typical home $213K (Census) · tax rate 0.46% · or rent about $958/mo · Housing →

Conover$1,600/mo

Typical home $278K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.64% · or rent about $898/mo · Housing →

The difference: $400 a month, about $4,800 a year, between Conover and St. Stephens.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Where they are

St. Stephens and Conover share a border

And the people who already live in one and work in the other.

St. StephensConover

St. Stephens ↔ Conover4.7 miles apart · They share a border

Who commutes between them

268 St. Stephens residents work in Conover (7% of its workers)

Work & commute in St. Stephens →

Report cards

St. Stephens places higher on 10 of 18 NC lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every North Carolina ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Schools

B+St. StephensBetter than 65% of districts in the state B+ConoverBetter than 65% of districts in the state

Health

B−St. StephensHealthier than 49% of U.S. towns C+ConoverHealthier than 40% of U.S. towns

10St. Stephens

5Conover

Lists won, of 18 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Lowest property taxCost of living · 297 towns #16#135 Best schoolsSchools · 252 towns #63#132 Shortest commuteGetting around · 297 towns #102#23 Most affordableCost of living · 297 towns #97#154 Most activeHealth · 296 towns #151#189 Fewest smokersHealth · 296 towns #154#189 HealthiestHealth · 296 towns #162#189 Most conserved landOutdoors · 276 towns #270#245

Left end = #1 in North Carolina. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of St. Stephens’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

St. StephensConover

Snow a year0″4″

January low—29°F

July high—87°F

Growing season (days)—217d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)22nd 12th

Outdoors & history

St. StephensConover

Trails0 mi 2 mi

Conserved land0.1%0.6%

Settled—1876

National Register places—2

Archive photos—4

Famous people born here—2

Community

St. StephensConover

Library hours a week50 hrs 39 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs North Carolina average

St. StephensConover

People

Population 9,457Highest 8,580Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +1.1%Lowest NC: +9.5% +3.1%Highest NC: +9.5%

Median age 43.2±2.3Highest 10% above NC 36.8±9Lowest 6% below NC

St. Stephens and Conover are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 22.9%±3.7Lowest NC: 21.8% 30.5%±5.5Highest NC: 21.8%

Conover and St. Stephens are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 20.3%±3Highest NC: 17.2% 18%±4.4Lowest NC: 17.2%

St. Stephens and Conover are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 25.7%Highest NC: 35.7% 23.8%Lowest NC: 35.7%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.6%±1.9Highest NC: 6.4% 2.1%±1.2Lowest NC: 6.4%

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $60,394±$7kLowest 17% below NC $65,972±$10kHighest 9% below NC

Conover and St. Stephens are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $213,300±$15kLowest 26% below NC $271,300±$30kHighest 6% below NC

Rentmedian gross, monthly $958±$94Highest 22% below NC $898±$100Lowest 27% below NC

St. Stephens and Conover are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $985Lowest 48% below NC $1,723Highest 9% below NC

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 60.6%±20.3Highest NC: 48.9% 55.5%±16.3Lowest NC: 48.9%

St. Stephens and Conover are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 16.2%Highest NC: 13% 15.7%Lowest NC: 13%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 83.6%Highest NC: 66.6% 69%Lowest NC: 66.6%

Typical home builtmedian year 1977Lowest 14 yrs older than NC 1991Highest same as NC

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 22 minHighest 11% below NC 19 minLowest 25% below NC

Work from home 5.5%±3.1Highest NC: 16.3% 4.1%±2.4Lowest NC: 16.3%

St. Stephens and Conover are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 1.9%Lowest 11.2%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 7.8 miLowest 8.3 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.32Lowest 2.76Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Hickory (30%)Hickory (22%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others 7% work in ConoverFew work in St. Stephens

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 0.1%Lowest 0.6%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.0 miLowest 1.8 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.0 miLowest 0.2 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 1Lowest 7Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 38.1 38.1

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #63 of 252 in NC #132 of 252 in NC

School district Catawba County SchoolsCatawba County Schools · Newton Conover City Schools

High school in town Saint Stephens HighNone in town

Students per teacherat that high school 22.1 —

North Carolina average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

St. Stephens neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to St. Stephens’s Town Square.

Conover neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Conover’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside St. Stephens and Conover

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering St. Stephens

+ Compare

Hickory44,258 people · $278K homes

+ Compare

Bethlehem4,101 people · $327K homes

Towns like St. Stephens

+ Compare

Archdale12,087 people · $198K homes

+ Compare

Trinity7,111 people · $217K homes

+ Compare

Boiling Spring Lakes6,347 people · $292K homes

+ Compare

Butner8,065 people · $231K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

St. Stephens vs Conover

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $400 more a month in Conover

St. Stephens and Conover share a border

St. Stephens places higher on 10 of 18 NC lists

What daily life feels like in each

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside St. Stephens and Conover

Bordering St. Stephens

Towns like St. Stephens

Post to St. Stephens

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