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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-FOREST-HILLS-NC · Forest Hills, NC 366 pop · income 68th 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 Forest Hills
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Forest Hills on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Eden · lowest
31,346
Eden · lowest
31,346 median HH income
19.1% of the leader · rank #1
Forest Hills · this city
86,250
Forest Hills · this city
86,250 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #2
Anderson · near
86,250
Anderson · near
86,250 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #3
Galena · near
86,250
Galena · near
86,250 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #4
Unalakleet · near
86,250
Unalakleet · near
86,250 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #5
Burdette · near
86,250
Burdette · near
86,250 median HH income
52.5% of the leader · rank #6
Zayante · highest
164,234
Zayante · highest
164,234 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 Forest Hills 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: 366.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Forest Hills places in the 68th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
68th
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: Forest Hills, NC
North Carolina's Forest Hills is a small town, with 366 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Forest Hills brings in $86,250 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. The median resident age is 48.4 years. About 64.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 44.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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. 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 Forest Hills'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 population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Forest Hills, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Forest Hills?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Sims (366 residents, $73,667 income); Earl (367 residents, $42,287 income); Goldston (367 residents, $39,592 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Twin, AL (366 residents); Stinson Beach, CA (366 residents); Zayante, CA (366 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 Forest Hills?
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 74.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Forest Hills growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +14 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Above median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
A-
City profile score · Forest Hills, NC
80/100
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+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
64.2%
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-
$86,250
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).
Forest Hills profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 94/100 (A+) · 64.2%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 66/100 (B-) · $86,250
How does Forest Hills compare to other US cities?
Forest Hills measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income68% 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 Forest Hills 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 Forest Hills near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Forest Hills ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Forest Hills only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#121 of 700
83rd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#653 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#36 of 746
95th 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
68th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$86,250Forest Hills, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Forest Hills, 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 Forest Hills, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)64.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
366
Median Income
$86,250
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
48.4
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
44.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
64.2%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Forest Hills's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
311 residents
2021
313 residents
2022
319 residents
2023
322 residents
2024
325 residents
2025
325 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
74.5%
Carpool
11.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.1%
Work from Home
10.3%
Based on 145 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 Forest Hills. 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 Forest Hills 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 Forest Hills sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Forest Hills 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.