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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-CAROLINA-BEACH-NC · Carolina Beach, NC 6,665 pop · income 69th 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 Carolina Beach
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Carolina Beach on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Selma · lowest
37,440
Selma · lowest
37,440 median HH income
15.0% of the leader · rank #1
Sherrill · near
88,233
Sherrill · near
88,233 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #2
Carolina Beach · this city
88,239
Carolina Beach · this city
88,239 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #3
Forest Meadows · near
88,250
Forest Meadows · near
88,250 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #4
Carter Springs · near
88,250
Carter Springs · near
88,250 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #5
Dunbar · near
88,250
Dunbar · near
88,250 median HH income
35.3% of the leader · rank #6
Marvin · highest
250,001
Marvin · highest
250,001 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 Carolina Beach 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: 6,665.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Carolina Beach - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Carolina Beach lands in the 69th percentile for household income and the 28th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
69th
percentile, household income
84th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
28th
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: Carolina Beach, NC
6,665 people live in Carolina Beach, North Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Carolina Beach households earn a median of $88,239 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.7%. Home values in Carolina Beach run a median of $487,800, and the median resident age is 52.2 years. Educational attainment runs 47.5% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 56.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 58 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Slowing), down 18% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2183.0 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. 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. Workers in Carolina Beach report an average commute of 19.8 minutes, with 73.6% driving alone and 17.5% working from home. 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 Carolina Beach'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 population change to work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Carolina Beach, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, local building permits, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Carolina Beach growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +299 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 58 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Carolina Beach?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 19.8 minutes.
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 does the education layer cover for Carolina Beach?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 47.5% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Which cities make useful reference points for Carolina Beach?
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 Selma (6,611 residents, $37,440 income); Marvin (6,542 residents, $250,000+ income); Unionville (6,826 residents, $92,009 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Green Knoll, NJ (6,664 residents); Winthrop Harbor, IL (6,663 residents); Belpre, OH (6,668 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.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Carolina Beach?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2183.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 4% 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.
Total reported rate
2183.0
Violent rate
332.5
Property rate
1850.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Carolina Beach?
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 5.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
5.5×
Home value
$487,800
Household income
$88,239
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 7.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
C
City profile score · Carolina Beach, NC
58/100
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-
47.5%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B-
$88,239
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.
Poverty rate D
7.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
333 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Carolina Beach profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 82/100 (A-) · 47.5%
Household income: 68/100 (B-) · $88,239
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Poverty rate: 49/100 (D) · 7.7%
Violent crime: 28/100 (F) · 333 /100k
Where Carolina Beach sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Carolina Beach'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 - Carolina Beach highlighted among 24 peers.Read the chart values
Carolina Beach, NC (this city): home $487,800, crime 2,183/100k
Belpre, OH : home $148,300, crime 684/100k
Blakely, PA : home $183,600, crime 857/100k
Selma, NC : home $161,100, crime 3,437/100k
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 Carolina Beach compare to other US cities?
Where Carolina Beach sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income69% higher than other cities
Home value84% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety28% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to North Carolina alone, Carolina Beach ranks #84 of 195 North Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Carolina Beach 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 Carolina Beach near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Carolina Beach ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Carolina Beach only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#110 of 700
84th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#41 of 708
94th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#416 of 746
44th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#97 of 746
87th 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
69th percentile nationally for median household income · 28th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Carolina Beach's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Carolina Beach'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 Carolina Beach's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$487,80016th percentilemore affordable than 16% 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
Carolina Beach's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,618 of 15,516
More affordable than 12% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,179 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.5×, Carolina Beach sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,618 of 15,516 and #10,179 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
$88,239Carolina Beach, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Carolina Beach, 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 Carolina Beach, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)47.5%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,665
Median Income
$88,239
Median Home Value
$487,800
Median Age
52.2
Poverty Rate
7.7%
Labor force participation
56.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
47.5%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2183.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
332.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1850.5
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.
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Carolina Beach's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
6,571 residents
2021
6,655 residents
2022
6,793 residents
2023
6,846 residents
2024
6,873 residents
2025
6,870 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
58
housing units authorized
Single-Family
58
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
8.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
71
50
21
$20.5M
2020
144
58
86
$30.8M
2021
157
69
88
$38.8M
2022
128
120
8
$51.4M
2023
77
75
2
$24.8M
2024
58
58
0
$17.4M
Permit volume decreased 18% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
19.8 minutes
Drive Alone
73.6%
Carpool
5.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
17.5%
Other
2.6%
Based on 3,192 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 Carolina Beach. 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 Carolina Beach 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 Carolina Beach sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Carolina Beach 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, NCES CCD, 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.