This North Carolina spot won a USA Today award for best small town shopping

Wondering where to go for your next shopping spree?

USA TODAY readers voted Highlands, a western North Carolina town, among the best in the United States in the category “Best Small Town for Shopping.”

Highlands offers shoppers dozens of local, small businesses to check out. Visit to window shop (or actually shop!) for jewelry, outdoors gear, clothing, sweets, home goods and more. For more about the shopping scene at Highlands, visit highlandschamber.org.

“The picturesque Main Street in the small North Carolina town of Highlands is a shopper’s paradise stocking a little of everything – sportswear, gift items, European and American antiques, home decor and accessories, fine art and kitchen gear,” USA TODAY 10Best said.

Highlands is about a five and a half-hour drive west of Raleigh.

This town came in at #5 on the list. The top spot went to Frenchtown, New Jersey.

The annual 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards are determined by readers’ votes. Initial selections came from travel experts choosing the top 20 nominees in a number of categories, including best art museum, best farmers market, best outdoor water park and more.

Home prices in western NC are changing

If you’re curious about how home prices have been changing in the western part of our state, the chart below, using Redfin Metro Area Data, looks at the percent change of Highlands-area home prices over the past year.

Redfin did not have data available for Highlands, but there was data available for nearby Cullowhee and Brevard, both roughly an hour from the shopping hotspot.

▪ The median home price in Brevard has mostly increased over the past year. Brevard homes have had a percent increase of nearly 9%, relative to July 2021.

▪ The median home price in Cullowhee has decreased throughout the past year. Cullowhee homes have had a percent decrease of nearly 24%, relative to July 2021.