Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetNC-GATESVILLE-NC · Gatesville, NC 310 pop · income 45th pct · 3 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 Gatesville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Gatesville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
East Laurinbu… · lowest
28,333
East Laurinbu… · lowest
28,333 median HH income
17.6% of the leader · rank #1
Gatesville · this city
66,563
Gatesville · this city
66,563 median HH income
41.4% of the leader · rank #2
Pleasant Lake · near
66,563
Pleasant Lake · near
66,563 median HH income
41.4% of the leader · rank #3
Marshallville · near
66,563
Marshallville · near
66,563 median HH income
41.4% of the leader · rank #4
Port Angeles… · near
66,563
Port Angeles… · near
66,563 median HH income
41.4% of the leader · rank #5
Mitchell Heig… · near
66,563
Mitchell Heig… · near
66,563 median HH income
41.4% of the leader · rank #6
Mountain Ranch · highest
160,837
Mountain Ranch · highest
160,837 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 Gatesville 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: 310.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Gatesville lands in the 45th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
45th
percentile, household income
39th
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: Gatesville, NC
Gatesville is a small town in North Carolina, home to 310 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Gatesville households earn a median of $66,563 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Gatesville's housing stock carries a median value of $189,200, and the median resident age is 44.6 years. About 17.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 56.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 3 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts North Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). Commute times here average 42.8 minutes, with 74.1% driving alone and 2.7% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 66.7 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Gatesville'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 within-city variation to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Gatesville, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Within-city variation
What can 3 Census tracts reveal inside Gatesville?
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Gatesville?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are East Arcadia (313 residents, $50,595 income); Vann Crossroads (313 residents, $67,759 income); Rodanthe (306 residents, $34,066 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cullomburg, AL (310 residents); Mountain Ranch, CA (310 residents); Arenzville, IL (310 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 education layer cover for Gatesville?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 17.2% 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.
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.
Is Gatesville growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.4% 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Gatesville?
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 74.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 42.8 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
2.7%
Drive alone
74.1%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 147 workers age 16+.
How far does income reach against housing in Gatesville?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, 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.
Household income
$66,563
Home value
$189,200
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below 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
C+
City profile score · Gatesville, NC
60/100
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.
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 D
$66,563
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
17.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Gatesville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 44/100 (D) · $66,563
Bachelor's+ share: 26/100 (F) · 17.2%
How does Gatesville compare to other US cities?
Gatesville measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income45% higher than other cities
Home value39% 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 Gatesville 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 Gatesville near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Gatesville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Gatesville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#269 of 700
62nd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#362 of 708
49th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#653 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#480 of 746
35th 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
45th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Gatesville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$189,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 61% 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
Gatesville's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,824 of 15,516
More affordable than 62% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,032 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Gatesville sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,824 of 15,516 and #5,032 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$66,563Gatesville, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Gatesville, 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 Gatesville, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)17.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
310
Median Income
$66,563
Median Home Value
$189,200
Median Age
44.6
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
56.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
17.2%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Gatesville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
272 residents
2021
271 residents
2022
267 residents
2023
266 residents
2024
263 residents
2025
260 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
42.8 minutes
Drive Alone
74.1%
Carpool
17.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
5.4%
Work from Home
2.7%
Based on 147 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 Gatesville. 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 Gatesville 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 Gatesville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Gatesville 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, NCES CCD, 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.