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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-CHAPEL-HILL-NC · Chapel Hill, NC 59,889 pop · income 67th pct · 42 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 Chapel Hill
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Chapel Hill on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rocky Mount · lowest
52,927
Rocky Mount · lowest
52,927 median HH income
38.2% of the leader · rank #1
Chapel Hill · this city
85,825
Chapel Hill · this city
85,825 median HH income
62.0% of the leader · rank #2
Gold Canyon · near
85,833
Gold Canyon · near
85,833 median HH income
62.0% of the leader · rank #3
Fieldbrook · near
85,833
Fieldbrook · near
85,833 median HH income
62.0% of the leader · rank #4
Riverview · near
85,833
Riverview · near
85,833 median HH income
62.0% of the leader · rank #5
Philpot · near
85,833
Philpot · near
85,833 median HH income
62.0% of the leader · rank #6
Apex · highest
138,442
Apex · highest
138,442 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 Chapel Hill 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: 59,889.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Chapel Hill - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Chapel Hill lands in the 67th percentile for household income and the 20th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
67th
percentile, household income
88th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
20th
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: Chapel Hill, NC
59,889 people live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $85,825 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 6.6%. Typical homes in Chapel Hill are valued around $576,500, and the median resident age is 25.8 years. About 77.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 159 residential building permits were authorized in Chapel Hill (Building Boom), up 145% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2686.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Chapel Hill's yearly average temperature at 59.7°F with 48.9 inches of precipitation per year and 2.8 inches of snowfall.
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. 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 Chapel Hill'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 reported crime to work and mobility to housing and income to climate and hazard context to population change to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Chapel Hill, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can the FBI record say about safety in Chapel Hill?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2686.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 18% higher 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Chapel Hill?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 48.1%. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Chapel Hill?
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 Burlington (58,599 residents, $54,941 income); Huntersville (62,458 residents, $119,951 income); Kannapolis (56,470 residents, $70,691 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Stonecrest, GA (59,917 residents); Revere, MA (59,933 residents); White Plains, NY (59,818 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 can 42 Census tracts reveal inside Chapel Hill?
PlainCities matches 42 Census tracts to this city.
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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Chapel Hill?
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 6.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 6.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
6.7×
Home value
$576,500
Household income
$85,825
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What physical conditions frame life in Chapel Hill?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 59.7°F, with 48.9 inches of precipitation and 2.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for North Carolina is 66.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
66.7
Annual precipitation
48.9 in
Mean temperature
59.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Is Chapel Hill growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +6,522 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 159 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.
2020 estimate
57,043
2025 estimate
63,565
Period change
+11.4%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the education layer cover for Chapel Hill?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 22 public schools within the city match. 77.2% 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.
Poverty estimate
6.6%
Bachelor's degree+
77.2%
Matched public schools
22
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 6.6% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B-
City profile score · Chapel Hill, NC
66/100
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+
77.2%
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 B-
$85,825
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C
6.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C-
172 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Chapel Hill profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 77.2%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 65/100 (B-) · $85,825
Poverty rate: 55/100 (C) · 6.6%
Violent crime: 53/100 (C-) · 172 /100k
Where Chapel Hill sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Chapel Hill'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 - Chapel Hill highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Chapel Hill, NC (this city): home $576,500, crime 2,687/100k
Revere, MA : home $566,200, crime 1,980/100k
White Plains, NY : home $624,100, crime 1,872/100k
Gardena, CA : home $667,600, crime 3,755/100k
Taunton, MA : home $388,200, crime 1,282/100k
Burlington, NC : home $188,700, crime 4,037/100k
Huntersville, NC : home $439,300, crime 1,507/100k
Kannapolis, NC : home $245,500, crime 1,953/100k
Rocky Mount, NC : home $148,300, crime 4,745/100k
Mooresville, NC : home $348,500, crime 2,369/100k
How does Chapel Hill compare to other US cities?
Here's how Chapel Hill stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income67% higher than other cities
Home value88% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety20% 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, Chapel Hill ranks #99 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 Chapel Hill 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 Chapel Hill near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Chapel Hill ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Chapel Hill only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#123 of 700
82nd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#19 of 708
97th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#454 of 746
39th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#9 of 746
99th 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
67th percentile nationally for median household income · 20th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Chapel Hill's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Chapel Hill'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 Chapel Hill's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$576,50012th percentilemore affordable than 12% 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
Chapel Hill's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,541 of 15,516
More affordable than 6% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#632 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 6.7×, Chapel Hill sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,541 of 15,516 and #632 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$85,825Chapel Hill, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Chapel Hill, 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 Chapel Hill, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)77.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)6.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
59,889
Median Income
$85,825
Median Home Value
$576,500
Median Age
25.8
Poverty Rate
6.6%
Labor force participation
54.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
77.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2686.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
172.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2514.6
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
59.7°F
Annual Precipitation
48.9"
Annual Snowfall
2.8"
Schools
Total Schools
22
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Chapel Hill's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
57,043 residents
2021
61,729 residents
2022
62,176 residents
2023
62,929 residents
2024
63,379 residents
2025
63,565 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
159
housing units authorized
Single-Family
111
detached homes
Multifamily
48
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
65
63
2
$28.4M
2020
151
38
113
$29.1M
2021
450
42
408
$68.0M
2022
200
21
179
$37.9M
2023
739
126
613
$127.2M
2024
159
111
48
$40.9M
Permit volume increased 145% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
48.1%
Carpool
6.8%
Public Transit
6.6%
Walk
7.7%
Work from Home
27.1%
Other
3.7%
Based on 27,633 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 Chapel Hill. 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 Chapel Hill 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 Chapel Hill sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Chapel Hill 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.