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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-ELROD-NC · Elrod, NC 245 pop · income 2nd 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 Elrod
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Elrod on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Las Marías co… · lowest
25,919
Las Marías co… · lowest
25,919 median HH income
16.9% of the leader · rank #1
Elrod · this city
25,938
Elrod · this city
25,938 median HH income
17.0% of the leader · rank #2
Caneyville · near
25,938
Caneyville · near
25,938 median HH income
17.0% of the leader · rank #3
Boissevain · near
25,951
Boissevain · near
25,951 median HH income
17.0% of the leader · rank #4
Bombay Beach · near
25,968
Bombay Beach · near
25,968 median HH income
17.0% of the leader · rank #5
Franklin CDP… · highest
153,018
Franklin CDP… · highest
153,018 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
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 Elrod 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: 245.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Elrod lands in the 2nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
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: Elrod, NC
Elrod is a small town in North Carolina, home to 245 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Elrod report a median income of $25,938 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 24.6%. The median resident age is 36.7 years. 16.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 36.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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. Workers in Elrod report an average commute of 16.0 minutes, with 88.6% driving alone and 11.4% working from home. 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 Elrod'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Elrod, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Elrod?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Kelford (245 residents); Watha (244 residents, $36,042 income); Valle Crucis (243 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pineville, AR (245 residents); Scranton, AR (245 residents); Franklin CDP (Sacramento County), CA (245 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.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 88.6%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.0 minutes.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 24.6% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
F
City profile score · Elrod, NC
23/100
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.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
24.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$25,938
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).
Elrod profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 24/100 (F) · 16.3%
Poverty rate: 7/100 (F) · 24.6%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $25,938
How does Elrod compare to other US cities?
Here's how Elrod stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher 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 Elrod 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 Elrod near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Elrod ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Elrod only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#682 of 700
3rd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#101 of 746
86th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#501 of 746
33rd 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$25,938Elrod, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Elrod, 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 Elrod, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)24.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)36.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
245
Median Income
$25,938
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
36.7
Poverty Rate
24.6%
Labor force participation
36.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.3%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.0 minutes
Drive Alone
88.6%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
11.4%
Based on 70 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 Elrod. 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 Elrod 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 Elrod sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Elrod 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.