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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-BEECH-MOUNTAIN-NC · Beech Mountain, NC 831 pop · income 71st 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 Beech Mountain
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Beech Mountain on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Kinmundy · lowest
37,667
Kinmundy · lowest
37,667 median HH income
31.2% of the leader · rank #1
Winfield · near
89,917
Winfield · near
89,917 median HH income
74.4% of the leader · rank #2
Palestine · near
89,924
Palestine · near
89,924 median HH income
74.4% of the leader · rank #3
Beech Mountain · this city
89,934
Beech Mountain · this city
89,934 median HH income
74.4% of the leader · rank #4
Westminster · near
89,944
Westminster · near
89,944 median HH income
74.4% of the leader · rank #5
Wiggins · near
89,948
Wiggins · near
89,948 median HH income
74.4% of the leader · rank #6
Blowing Rock · highest
120,865
Blowing Rock · highest
120,865 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Beech Mountain on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 831.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Beech Mountain - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Beech Mountain lands in the 71st percentile for household income and the 81st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
71st
percentile, household income
76th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
81st
percentile, safety
📝 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: Beech Mountain, NC
North Carolina's Beech Mountain is a small town, with 831 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Beech Mountain report a median income of $89,934 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Home values in Beech Mountain run a median of $388,800, and the median resident age is 62.1 years. 54.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 38.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 32 residential building permits were authorized in Beech Mountain (Building Boom), up 256% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Beech Mountain reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 609.8 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, North Carolina scores 94.3 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,161 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Carolina run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 66.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Beech Mountain'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 comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Beech Mountain, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Beech Mountain?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Faison (826 residents, $38,173 income); Cashiers (825 residents, $73,455 income); Richfield (839 residents, $80,536 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Diamond City, AR (831 residents); Point Arena, CA (831 residents); Kinmundy, IL (831 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Beech Mountain?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 52.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Beech Mountain?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 609.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 73% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
How far does income reach against housing in Beech Mountain?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Beech Mountain growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 32 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
2020 estimate
664
2025 estimate
659
Period change
-0.8%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B
City profile score · Beech Mountain, NC
72/100
5 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.
Bachelor's+ share A
54.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A-
2.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income B-
$89,934
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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 C
152 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Beech Mountain profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 87/100 (A) · 54.0%
Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
Household income: 69/100 (B-) · $89,934
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Violent crime: 58/100 (C) · 152 /100k
Where Beech Mountain sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Beech Mountain's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Beech Mountain highlighted among 23 peers.Read the chart values
Beech Mountain, NC (this city): home $388,800, crime 610/100k
Diamond City, AR : home $96,100, crime 355/100k
Blowing Rock, NC : home $667,300, crime 2,970/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Beech Mountain compare to other US cities?
Where Beech Mountain sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income71% higher than other cities
Home value76% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety81% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at North Carolina, Beech Mountain ranks #10 of 195 North Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Beech Mountain 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 Beech Mountain near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Beech Mountain ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Beech Mountain only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#98 of 700
86th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#85 of 708
88th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#604 of 746
19th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#66 of 746
91st 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
71st percentile nationally for median household income · 81st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Beech Mountain's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Beech Mountain's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Beech Mountain's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$388,80024th percentilemore affordable than 24% 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
Beech Mountain's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,581 of 15,516
More affordable than 25% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,921 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Beech Mountain sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,581 of 15,516 and #8,921 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$89,934Beech Mountain, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Beech Mountain, 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 Beech Mountain, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)54.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)38.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
831
Median Income
$89,934
Median Home Value
$388,800
Median Age
62.1
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
38.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
54.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
609.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
152.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
457.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Beech Mountain's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
664 residents
2021
663 residents
2022
665 residents
2023
661 residents
2024
658 residents
2025
659 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
32
housing units authorized
Single-Family
32
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
38.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
9
9
0
$2.0M
2020
1
1
0
$0.2M
2021
30
30
0
$10.9M
2022
33
33
0
$10.7M
2023
36
36
0
$11.7M
2024
32
32
0
$9.8M
Permit volume increased 256% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
52.3%
Carpool
8.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.5%
Work from Home
31.4%
Other
4.0%
Based on 283 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 Beech Mountain. 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 Beech Mountain 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 Beech Mountain sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Beech Mountain 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, FBI UCR, 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.