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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-MARS-HILL-NC · Mars Hill, NC 2,738 pop · income 59th pct · 7 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 Mars Hill
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mars Hill on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Pine Lawn · lowest
19,924
Pine Lawn · lowest
19,924 median HH income
12.4% of the leader · rank #1
Kibler · near
77,813
Kibler · near
77,813 median HH income
48.6% of the leader · rank #2
Mars Hill · this city
77,826
Mars Hill · this city
77,826 median HH income
48.6% of the leader · rank #3
Chapel Hill · near
77,826
Chapel Hill · near
77,826 median HH income
48.6% of the leader · rank #4
Sacaton Flats · near
77,833
Sacaton Flats · near
77,833 median HH income
48.6% of the leader · rank #5
Livonia Center · near
77,833
Livonia Center · near
77,833 median HH income
48.6% of the leader · rank #6
Gillette · highest
160,272
Gillette · highest
160,272 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 Mars Hill 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: 2,738.
Mars Hill ranks in the 59th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
59th
percentile, household income
64th
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: Mars Hill, NC
2,738 people live in Mars Hill, North Carolina - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Mars Hill report a median income of $77,826 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.2%. Typical homes in Mars Hill are valued around $295,700, and the median resident age is 30.3 years. Educational attainment runs 50.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 51.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,161 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Carolina run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy 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 Mars Hill'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 schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mars Hill, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Mars Hill?
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.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 50.1% 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.
Is Mars Hill growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +242 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +11.9% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Mars Hill?
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.
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Warsaw (2,728 residents, $46,944 income); Emma (2,757 residents, $40,964 income); Polkton (2,759 residents, $45,625 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hamilton, IL (2,738 residents); Pine Lawn, MO (2,738 residents); Campo, CA (2,739 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.
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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Mars Hill?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.8×
Home value
$295,700
Household income
$77,826
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Mars Hill?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Drive alone
68.2%
Work from home
16.5%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,121 workers age 16+.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B
City profile score · Mars Hill, NC
71/100
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-
2.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A-
50.1%
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 C
$77,826
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).
Mars Hill profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.2%
Bachelor's+ share: 84/100 (A-) · 50.1%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 57/100 (C) · $77,826
How does Mars Hill compare to other US cities?
Where Mars Hill sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income59% higher than other cities
Home value64% 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 Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mars Hill ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mars Hill only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#173 of 700
75th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#163 of 708
77th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#610 of 746
18th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#90 of 746
88th 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
59th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Mars Hill's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$295,70036th percentilemore affordable than 36% 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
Mars Hill's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,057 of 15,516
More affordable than 35% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,948 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.8×, Mars Hill sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,057 of 15,516 and #7,948 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
$77,826Mars Hill, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mars Hill, 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 Mars Hill, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)50.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,738
Median Income
$77,826
Median Home Value
$295,700
Median Age
30.3
Poverty Rate
2.2%
Labor force participation
51.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
50.1%
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
Mars Hill's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,038 residents
2021
2,135 residents
2022
2,195 residents
2023
2,170 residents
2024
2,271 residents
2025
2,280 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.2%
Carpool
3.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
11.7%
Work from Home
16.5%
Based on 1,121 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 Mars Hill. 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 Mars Hill 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 Mars Hill sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mars Hill 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.