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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-LAKE-LURE-NC · Lake Lure, NC 1,488 pop · income 53rd 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 Lake Lure
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Lure on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
North Charler… · lowest
43,981
North Charler… · lowest
43,981 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #1
Lake Lure · this city
72,813
Lake Lure · this city
72,813 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #2
Dunnavant · near
72,813
Dunnavant · near
72,813 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #3
Goshen · near
72,813
Goshen · near
72,813 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #4
Riley · near
72,813
Riley · near
72,813 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #5
Templeton · near
72,813
Templeton · near
72,813 median HH income
45.3% of the leader · rank #6
Diablo Grande · highest
160,741
Diablo Grande · highest
160,741 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 Lake Lure 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: 1,488.
Lake Lure ranks in the 53rd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
53rd
percentile, household income
85th
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: Lake Lure, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,488 residents in Lake Lure, a small town within North Carolina. Households in Lake Lure report a median income of $72,813 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.8%. Lake Lure's housing stock carries a median value of $510,300, and the median resident age is 61.8 years. About 58.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 42.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 58.5°F with 59.3 inches of precipitation per year and 3.1 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts North Carolina at 94.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,161 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $215 across North Carolina, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 27.0 minutes, with 56.5% driving alone and 29.1% working from home, per Census ACS commuting 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 Lake Lure'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to climate and hazard context to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Lake Lure, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Lake Lure?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 7.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.8%, 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Lake Lure?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Rose Hill (1,501 residents, $44,722 income); Saxapahaw (1,501 residents, $63,281 income); Boonville (1,502 residents, $77,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Diablo Grande, CA (1,488 residents); Olive Hill, KY (1,488 residents); North Charleroi, PA (1,488 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.
Is Lake Lure 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 +22 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.6% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Lake Lure?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 56.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 27.0 minutes.
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.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Lake Lure?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 58.5°F, with 59.3 inches of precipitation and 3.1 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.
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.
Mean temperature
58.5°F
Annual precipitation
59.3 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
66.7
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the education layer cover for Lake Lure?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 58.7% 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 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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
58.7%
Poverty estimate
5.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 5.8% (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 · Lake Lure, NC
65/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share A+
58.7%
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.
Poverty rate C+
5.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C-
$72,813
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).
Lake Lure profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 91/100 (A+) · 58.7%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Poverty rate: 60/100 (C+) · 5.8%
Household income: 52/100 (C-) · $72,813
How does Lake Lure compare to other US cities?
Lake Lure measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income53% higher than other cities
Home value85% 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 Lake Lure 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 Lake Lure near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Lure ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Lure only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#219 of 700
69th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#33 of 708
95th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#477 of 746
36th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#51 of 746
93rd 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
53rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Lake Lure's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$510,30015th percentilemore affordable than 15% 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
Lake Lure's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,671 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,801 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.0×, Lake Lure sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,671 of 15,516 and #10,801 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
$72,813Lake Lure, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Lake Lure, 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 Lake Lure, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)58.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,488
Median Income
$72,813
Median Home Value
$510,300
Median Age
61.8
Poverty Rate
5.8%
Labor force participation
42.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
58.7%
Climate
Avg Temperature
58.5°F
Annual Precipitation
59.3"
Annual Snowfall
3.1"
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
Lake Lure's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,369 residents
2021
1,371 residents
2022
1,377 residents
2023
1,387 residents
2024
1,390 residents
2025
1,391 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
27.0 minutes
Drive Alone
56.5%
Carpool
3.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.9%
Work from Home
29.1%
Other
5.7%
Based on 577 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 Lake Lure. 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 Lake Lure 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 Lake Lure sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Lake Lure 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.