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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-LOCUST-NC · Locust, NC 5,529 pop · income 60th 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 Locust
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Locust on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bessemer City · lowest
48,784
Bessemer City · lowest
48,784 median HH income
32.6% of the leader · rank #1
Carlsbad · near
78,277
Carlsbad · near
78,277 median HH income
52.4% of the leader · rank #2
Rigby · near
78,278
Rigby · near
78,278 median HH income
52.4% of the leader · rank #3
Locust · this city
78,280
Locust · this city
78,280 median HH income
52.4% of the leader · rank #4
San Jacinto · near
78,281
San Jacinto · near
78,281 median HH income
52.4% of the leader · rank #5
Cuyuna · near
78,281
Cuyuna · near
78,281 median HH income
52.4% of the leader · rank #6
Credit River · highest
149,524
Credit River · highest
149,524 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 Locust 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: 5,529.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Locust places in the 60th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
60th
percentile, household income
63rd
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: Locust, NC
5,529 people live in Locust, North Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $78,280 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.1%. Home values in Locust run a median of $285,800, and the median resident age is 35.4 years. Educational attainment runs 18.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 50.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. Workers in Locust report an average commute of 29.3 minutes, with 78.1% driving alone and 11.3% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 66.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Locust'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 population change to work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Locust, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Locust 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 +1,262 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +26.0% 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 Locust?
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 78.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 29.3 minutes.
How far does income reach against housing in Locust?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.1%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Locust?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Bessemer City (5,508 residents, $48,784 income); Wrightsboro (5,434 residents, $72,867 income); Moyock (5,669 residents, $109,700 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Credit River, MN (5,531 residents); Columbia Falls, MT (5,531 residents); Rothschild, WI (5,532 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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Locust?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 18.9% 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
2
Bachelor's degree+
18.9%
Poverty estimate
5.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 5.1% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
C
City profile score · Locust, NC
57/100
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.
Poverty rate B-
5.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C
$78,280
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.9%
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).
Locust profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Poverty rate: 65/100 (B-) · 5.1%
Household income: 58/100 (C) · $78,280
Bachelor's+ share: 31/100 (F) · 18.9%
How does Locust compare to other US cities?
Where Locust sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income60% higher than other cities
Home value63% 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 Locust 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 Locust near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Locust ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Locust only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#170 of 700
76th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#181 of 708
74th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#504 of 746
32nd percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#437 of 746
41st 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
60th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Locust's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$285,80037th percentilemore affordable than 37% 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
Locust's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,549 of 15,516
More affordable than 38% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,625 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.7×, Locust sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,549 of 15,516 and #7,625 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$78,280Locust, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Locust, 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 Locust, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,529
Median Income
$78,280
Median Home Value
$285,800
Median Age
35.4
Poverty Rate
5.1%
Labor force participation
50.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.9%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Locust's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,858 residents
2021
5,065 residents
2022
5,463 residents
2023
5,879 residents
2024
6,014 residents
2025
6,120 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
29.3 minutes
Drive Alone
78.1%
Carpool
10.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
11.3%
Based on 1,999 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 Locust. 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 Locust 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 Locust sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Locust 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.