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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-BETHLEHEM-NC · Bethlehem, NC 3,928 pop · income 61st pct · 7 tracts
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 Bethlehem
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bethlehem on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pine Manor · lowest
45,610
Pine Manor · lowest
45,610 median HH income
40.6% of the leader · rank #1
Hazel Dell · near
78,958
Hazel Dell · near
78,958 median HH income
70.3% of the leader · rank #2
Mineral Point · near
78,958
Mineral Point · near
78,958 median HH income
70.3% of the leader · rank #3
Bethlehem · this city
78,963
Bethlehem · this city
78,963 median HH income
70.3% of the leader · rank #4
Boutte · near
78,971
Boutte · near
78,971 median HH income
70.3% of the leader · rank #5
Baker · near
78,971
Baker · near
78,971 median HH income
70.3% of the leader · rank #6
Swansboro · highest
112,382
Swansboro · highest
112,382 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 Bethlehem 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: 3,928.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Bethlehem places in the 61st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
61st
percentile, household income
64th
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: Bethlehem, NC
Bethlehem is a small town in North Carolina, home to 3,928 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Bethlehem households earn a median of $78,963 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.1%. Typical homes in Bethlehem are valued around $290,600, and the median resident age is 52.3 years. Educational attainment runs 40.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 53.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts North Carolina at 94.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,161 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $215 across North Carolina, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 29.1 minutes, with 81.6% driving alone and 10.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 Bethlehem'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 within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bethlehem, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Bethlehem?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Emerald Isle (3,915 residents, $89,432 income); Swansboro (3,887 residents, $112,382 income); Stanley (4,014 residents, $71,333 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Raymond, WI (3,928 residents); Pine Manor, FL (3,929 residents); Williamstown, KY (3,929 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Bethlehem?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 81.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 29.1 minutes.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
How far does income reach against housing in Bethlehem?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.1%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B
City profile score · Bethlehem, NC
70/100
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.
Poverty rate A
2.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B+
40.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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.
Household income C
$78,963
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Bethlehem profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 85/100 (A) · 2.1%
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 40.9%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,963
How does Bethlehem compare to other US cities?
Where Bethlehem sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income61% higher than other cities
Home value64% 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 Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bethlehem ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bethlehem only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#163 of 700
77th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#174 of 708
75th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#611 of 746
18th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#138 of 746
81st 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
61st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Bethlehem's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$290,60036th percentilemore affordable than 36% 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
Bethlehem's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,648 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,686 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Bethlehem sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,648 of 15,516 and #7,686 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
$78,963Bethlehem, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bethlehem, 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 Bethlehem, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,928
Median Income
$78,963
Median Home Value
$290,600
Median Age
52.3
Poverty Rate
2.1%
Labor force participation
53.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.9%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
29.1 minutes
Drive Alone
81.6%
Carpool
6.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
10.7%
Other
1.7%
Based on 1,846 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 Bethlehem. 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 Bethlehem 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 Bethlehem sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bethlehem 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.