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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-MEBANE-NC · Mebane, NC 18,899 pop · income 66th 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 Mebane
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mebane on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Boone · lowest
28,633
Boone · lowest
28,633 median HH income
20.0% of the leader · rank #1
Germantown · near
84,307
Germantown · near
84,307 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #2
Williston · near
84,309
Williston · near
84,309 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #3
Rural Hill · near
84,310
Rural Hill · near
84,310 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #4
Mebane · this city
84,312
Mebane · this city
84,312 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #5
Deming · near
84,315
Deming · near
84,315 median HH income
58.8% of the leader · rank #6
Harrisburg · highest
143,393
Harrisburg · highest
143,393 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Mebane on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 18,899.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Mebane - the verdict
Nationally, Mebane sits in the 66th percentile for household income and the 10th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
66th
percentile, household income
64th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
10th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Mebane, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 18,899 residents in Mebane, a small town within North Carolina. Median household income here is $84,312 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.7%. Mebane's housing stock carries a median value of $295,600, and the median resident age is 36.8 years. 40.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.7% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 675 residential building permits were authorized in Mebane (Building Boom), up 174% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Mebane's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 3518.2 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, North Carolina scores 94.3 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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. 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 Mebane'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 work and mobility to housing and income to reported crime to population change 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 Mebane, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Mebane?
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 76.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Mebane?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.7%, 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Mebane?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3518.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 54% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Mebane?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Elizabeth City (18,740 residents, $50,947 income); Harrisburg (19,203 residents, $143,393 income); Lumberton (19,220 residents, $43,114 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cullman, AL (18,894 residents); Onalaska, WI (18,909 residents); Palestine, TX (18,888 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
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.
Population change
Is Mebane 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 +3,697 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +20.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 675 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+20.3%
2025 estimate
21,952
2020 estimate
18,255
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 40.7% 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 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.
Matched public schools
7
Bachelor's degree+
40.7%
Poverty estimate
5.7%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 5.7% (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 · Mebane, NC
59/100
5 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 B+
40.7%
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.
Household income C+
$84,312
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
306 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Mebane profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 40.7%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 64/100 (C+) · $84,312
Poverty rate: 61/100 (C+) · 5.7%
Violent crime: 32/100 (F) · 306 /100k
Where Mebane sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Mebane's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Mebane highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Mebane, NC (this city): home $295,600, crime 3,518/100k
Cullman, AL : home $215,200, crime 2,682/100k
Onalaska, WI : home $279,100, crime 2,329/100k
Palestine, TX : home $153,400, crime 1,863/100k
Ellensburg, WA : home $357,800, crime 2,409/100k
Chowchilla, CA : home $331,500, crime 1,866/100k
Elizabeth City, NC : home $202,100, crime 2,728/100k
Lumberton, NC : home $140,100, crime 11,621/100k
Lenoir, NC : home $165,200, crime 3,478/100k
Knightdale, NC : home $331,900, crime 3,118/100k
Boone, NC : home $373,600, crime 999/100k
How does Mebane compare to other US cities?
Where Mebane sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income66% higher than other cities
Home value64% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety10% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to North Carolina alone, Mebane ranks #140 of 195 North Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Mebane 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 Mebane near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mebane ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mebane only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#134 of 700
81st percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#164 of 708
77th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#480 of 746
35th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#140 of 746
81st 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
66th percentile nationally for median household income · 10th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Mebane's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Mebane's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Mebane's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$295,60036th 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
Mebane's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,982 of 15,516
More affordable than 42% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,490 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.5×, Mebane sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,982 of 15,516 and #1,490 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$84,312Mebane, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mebane, 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 Mebane, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)40.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.7%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
18,899
Median Income
$84,312
Median Home Value
$295,600
Median Age
36.8
Poverty Rate
5.7%
Labor force participation
66.7%
Bachelor's Degree+
40.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3518.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
305.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3212.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mebane's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
18,255 residents
2021
18,826 residents
2022
19,718 residents
2023
20,279 residents
2024
20,683 residents
2025
21,952 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
675
housing units authorized
Single-Family
294
detached homes
Multifamily
381
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
35.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
246
180
66
$40.1M
2020
315
315
0
$63.2M
2021
525
384
141
$79.5M
2022
323
277
46
$71.5M
2023
275
227
48
$51.7M
2024
675
294
381
$94.0M
Permit volume increased 174% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.8%
Carpool
4.6%
Public Transit
0.4%
Walk
0.1%
Work from Home
17.6%
Based on 9,718 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 Mebane. 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 Mebane 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 Mebane sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mebane 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, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.