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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-ORIENTAL-NC · Oriental, NC 930 pop · income 32nd 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 Oriental
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Oriental on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Laurel Hill · lowest
26,250
Laurel Hill · lowest
26,250 median HH income
25.0% of the leader · rank #1
South Glens F… · near
57,865
South Glens F… · near
57,865 median HH income
55.1% of the leader · rank #2
Oriental · this city
57,875
Oriental · this city
57,875 median HH income
55.1% of the leader · rank #3
Hays · near
57,875
Hays · near
57,875 median HH income
55.1% of the leader · rank #4
Waelder · near
57,879
Waelder · near
57,879 median HH income
55.1% of the leader · rank #5
Fountain Lake · near
57,885
Fountain Lake · near
57,885 median HH income
55.1% of the leader · rank #6
Sentinel · highest
105,000
Sentinel · highest
105,000 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 Oriental 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: 930.
Oriental ranks in the 32nd percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
32nd
percentile, household income
78th
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: Oriental, NC
Oriental is a small town in North Carolina, home to 930 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Oriental report a median income of $57,875 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 1.3%. Home values in Oriental run a median of $406,800, and the median resident age is 68.7 years. Educational attainment runs 52.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 27.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. Monthly utility costs average around $215 across North Carolina, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. The average commute for Oriental workers runs 9.9 minutes, with 67.2% driving alone and 28.8% 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 Oriental'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 comparison shortlist 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 Oriental, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Oriental 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 +27 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.1% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Oriental?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Belwood (928 residents, $49,078 income); Vanceboro (939 residents, $39,125 income); Laurel Hill (916 residents, $26,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Kingston, GA (930 residents); Miner, MO (930 residents); Pawnee City, NE (930 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Oriental?
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 1.3%, 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Oriental?
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 67.2%. The reported mean trip to work is 9.9 minutes.
Below median income · poverty 1.3% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B-
City profile score · Oriental, 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.
Poverty rate A+
1.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A
52.6%
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 F
$57,875
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).
Oriental profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 91/100 (A+) · 1.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 86/100 (A) · 52.6%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 31/100 (F) · $57,875
How does Oriental compare to other US cities?
Where Oriental sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income32% higher than other cities
Home value78% 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 Oriental 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 Oriental near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Oriental ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Oriental only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#367 of 700
48th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#71 of 708
90th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#638 of 746
14th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#76 of 746
90th 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
32nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Oriental's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$406,80022nd percentilemore affordable than 22% 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
Oriental's home-value-to-income ratio: 7.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,680 of 15,516
More affordable than 5% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,806 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 7.0×, Oriental sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,680 of 15,516 and #10,806 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
$57,875Oriental, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Oriental, 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 Oriental, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)52.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)27.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
930
Median Income
$57,875
Median Home Value
$406,800
Median Age
68.7
Poverty Rate
1.3%
Labor force participation
27.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
52.6%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Oriental's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
882 residents
2021
885 residents
2022
885 residents
2023
896 residents
2024
906 residents
2025
909 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
9.9 minutes
Drive Alone
67.2%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
28.8%
Other
4.0%
Based on 250 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 Oriental. 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 Oriental 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 Oriental sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Oriental 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, 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.