This small town in North Carolina ranks among the best places in the South. Here’s why

Simone Jasper
·2 min read

A town nestled in the North Carolina mountains is small — but it makes a big impression.

So much so, Brevard ranks No. 9 on a list of “best small towns in the South,” according to results published April 10 from USA Today’s 10Best.

The website — which creates travel-related rankings — said it made the latest list after asking travel experts and editors to choose the top Southern destinations that had fewer than 25,000 residents. It presented the finalists to readers, who could vote for their favorite towns up to one time per day over the course of a month.

In the resulting list of readers’ choice award winners, Brevard was the only place in North Carolina to land a spot in the top 10. The town received nods for its downtown shopping and proximity to outdoor attractions.

“You’ll find plenty of retail therapy to satisfy your credit card, along with several museums to explore the area’s history,” 10Best wrote in its report. “Beyond those bustling streets, you can hike your way to 250 waterfalls, conquer the mountain biking trails, and ascend to new heights while rock climbing.”

Brevard — a roughly 30-mile drive southwest from Asheville — is no stranger to earning wide acclaim. Earlier in April, the town of about 7,700 people made it onto Money magazine’s list of the “50 Best Places to Live in the U.S.” as it was praised as an “under-the-radar gem.”

Though Brevard made its mark, North Carolina destinations missed out in 10Best’s other small-town categories, including the top coastal towns and college towns. The website in the past has said it doesn’t share the number of people who vote in its contests.

For the Southern rankings, award winners were chosen from the following 17 places: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. 10Best used a U.S. Census Bureau map to define the region, the website told McClatchy News in an email.

The highest-ranking destination was Starkville, Mississippi. Rounding out the top five:

  • Batesville, Arkansas, at No. 2

  • Thomasville, Georgia, at No. 3

  • West Monroe, Louisiana, at No. 4

  • Maysville, Kentucky, at No. 5

Two North Carolina beer scenes rank among the nation’s best — and we’ll toast to that

This NC city ‘lacks for nothing’ — and ranks as top up-and-coming place in the South