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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-PITTSBORO-NC · Pittsboro, NC 4,640 pop · income 43rd 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 Pittsboro
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pittsboro on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Clarkdale · lowest
32,607
Clarkdale · lowest
32,607 median HH income
23.4% of the leader · rank #1
South Oroville · near
64,785
South Oroville · near
64,785 median HH income
46.5% of the leader · rank #2
Merrillville · near
64,791
Merrillville · near
64,791 median HH income
46.5% of the leader · rank #3
Pittsboro · this city
64,792
Pittsboro · this city
64,792 median HH income
46.5% of the leader · rank #4
Laureldale · near
64,792
Laureldale · near
64,792 median HH income
46.5% of the leader · rank #5
Yoe · near
64,792
Yoe · near
64,792 median HH income
46.5% of the leader · rank #6
Buckhead · highest
139,395
Buckhead · highest
139,395 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 Pittsboro 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: 4,640.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pittsboro - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Pittsboro places in the 43rd percentile for household income and the 14th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
43rd
percentile, household income
71st
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
14th
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: Pittsboro, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 4,640 residents in Pittsboro, a small town within North Carolina. Households in Pittsboro report a median income of $64,792 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.8%. Home values in Pittsboro run a median of $342,800, and the median resident age is 42.5 years. 42.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Pittsboro's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 3161.7 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects 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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,161 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Carolina run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 26.9 minutes, with 78.9% driving alone and 16.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. 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 Pittsboro'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 reported crime to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pittsboro, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, 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 Pittsboro?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.8%, 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 Pittsboro?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Boiling Springs (4,625 residents, $98,796 income); Weaverville (4,618 residents, $90,000 income); Erwin (4,617 residents, $50,077 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Columbiana, AL (4,640 residents); Buckhead, GA (4,640 residents); Forsyth, GA (4,641 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.
Is Pittsboro 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 +491 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +10.8% 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 can the FBI record say about safety in Pittsboro?
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 3161.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 39% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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 Pittsboro?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 42.6% 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+
42.6%
Poverty estimate
15.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Pittsboro?
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 78.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 26.9 minutes.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
16.0%
Drive alone
78.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,475 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 15.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
C-
City profile score · Pittsboro, NC
54/100
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+
42.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime B
101 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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 D
$64,792
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Pittsboro profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 42.6%
Violent crime: 70/100 (B) · 101 /100k
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Household income: 42/100 (D) · $64,792
Poverty rate: 21/100 (F) · 15.8%
Where Pittsboro sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pittsboro'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 - Pittsboro highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Pittsboro, NC (this city): home $342,800, crime 3,162/100k
Columbiana, AL : home $237,800, crime 1,181/100k
Negaunee, MI : home $156,400, crime 494/100k
Clarkdale, AZ : home $344,800, crime 573/100k
Weaverville, NC : home $452,700, crime 3,191/100k
Erwin, NC : home $150,400, crime 2,785/100k
Beaufort, NC : home $319,700, crime 2,033/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Pittsboro compare to other US cities?
Pittsboro measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income43% higher than other cities
Home value71% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety14% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just North Carolina and the picture shifts: Pittsboro ranks #115 of 195 North Carolina cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pittsboro 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 Pittsboro near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pittsboro ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pittsboro only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#280 of 700
60th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#127 of 708
82nd percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#216 of 746
71st percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#125 of 746
83rd 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
43rd percentile nationally for median household income · 14th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pittsboro's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pittsboro'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 Pittsboro's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$342,80029th percentilemore affordable than 29% 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
Pittsboro's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,306 of 15,516
More affordable than 14% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,999 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.3×, Pittsboro sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,306 of 15,516 and #9,999 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
$64,792Pittsboro, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pittsboro, 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 Pittsboro, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)42.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,640
Median Income
$64,792
Median Home Value
$342,800
Median Age
42.5
Poverty Rate
15.8%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
42.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3161.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
101.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
3060.4
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
Pittsboro's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,563 residents
2021
4,623 residents
2022
4,742 residents
2023
4,859 residents
2024
4,980 residents
2025
5,054 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
26.9 minutes
Drive Alone
78.9%
Carpool
5.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
16.0%
Based on 2,475 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 Pittsboro. 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 Pittsboro 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 Pittsboro sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pittsboro 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.