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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-BALD-HEAD-ISLAND-NC · Bald Head Island, NC 149 pop · income 98th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bald Head Island
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bald Head Island on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Milwaukee · lowest
47,596
Milwaukee · lowest
47,596 median HH income
23.1% of the leader · rank #1
Independent H… · near
204,500
Independent H… · near
204,500 median HH income
99.4% of the leader · rank #2
Villa Park · near
204,750
Villa Park · near
204,750 median HH income
99.5% of the leader · rank #3
Bald Head Isl… · this city
205,000
Bald Head Isl… · this city
205,000 median HH income
99.6% of the leader · rank #4
Dublin · near
205,046
Dublin · near
205,046 median HH income
99.7% of the leader · rank #5
Botsford · near
205,469
Botsford · near
205,469 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #6
Lake Bluff · highest
205,735
Lake Bluff · highest
205,735 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bald Head Island on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 149.
Nationally, Bald Head Island sits in the 98th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
98th
percentile, household income
99th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bald Head Island, NC
North Carolina's Bald Head Island is a small town, with 149 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Bald Head Island brings in $205,000 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.0%. Typical homes in Bald Head Island are valued around $1,375,000, and the median resident age is 69.1 years. 84.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 34.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 25 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Rapid Growth), up 25% from five years earlier.
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: the state registers 94.3 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,161 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Carolina run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 66.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bald Head Island's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bald Head Island, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Bald Head Island?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Working from home is the largest reported mode at 64.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Bald Head Island growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +17 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +6.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 25 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bald Head Island?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Milwaukee (147 residents, $47,596 income); Stonewall (151 residents); Waves (147 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rudy, AR (149 residents); El Rancho, CA (149 residents); Segundo, CO (149 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
How far does income reach against housing in Bald Head Island?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
A
City profile score · Bald Head Island, NC
88/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$205,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
84.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A
2.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living B-
94.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Bald Head Island profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 100/100 (A+) · $205,000
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 84.2%
Poverty rate: 86/100 (A) · 2.0%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
How does Bald Head Island compare to other US cities?
Bald Head Island measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income98% higher than other cities
Home value99% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bald Head Island against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to North Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
North Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bald Head Island near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bald Head Island ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bald Head Island only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#3 of 700
100th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#1 of 708
100th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#614 of 746
17th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#2 of 746
100th percentile in North Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within North Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
98th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Bald Head Island's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,375,0001st percentilemore affordable than 1% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Bald Head Island's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,537 of 15,516
More affordable than 6% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,723 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.7×, Bald Head Island sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,537 of 15,516 and #10,723 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$205,000Bald Head Island, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bald Head Island, NC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bald Head Island, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)84.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)34.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
149
Median Income
$205,000
Median Home Value
$1,375,000
Median Age
69.1
Poverty Rate
2.0%
Labor force participation
34.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
84.2%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bald Head Island's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
262 residents
2021
267 residents
2022
273 residents
2023
278 residents
2024
277 residents
2025
279 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Rapid Growth
Total Permits (2024)
25
housing units authorized
Single-Family
25
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
167.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
20
20
0
$9.8M
2020
17
17
0
$9.6M
2021
30
30
0
$15.8M
2022
32
32
0
$16.6M
2023
23
23
0
$13.5M
2024
25
25
0
$13.9M
Permit volume increased 25% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
9.8%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.9%
Work from Home
64.7%
Other
21.6%
Based on 51 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
North Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $215
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across North Carolina at $215 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are North Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bald Head Island. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
North Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 94.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bald Head Island is $1,161/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to North Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 66.7 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a North Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bald Head Island sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bald Head Island compares to similar-size North Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.