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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-RAEFORD-NC · Raeford, NC 4,545 pop · income 11th pct · 12 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 Raeford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Raeford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Edenton · lowest
42,721
Edenton · lowest
42,721 median HH income
31.8% of the leader · rank #1
Shoals · near
43,304
Shoals · near
43,304 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #2
Butler · near
43,309
Butler · near
43,309 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #3
Doniphan · near
43,309
Doniphan · near
43,309 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #4
Raeford · this city
43,311
Raeford · this city
43,311 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #5
Gallatin · near
43,322
Gallatin · near
43,322 median HH income
32.2% of the leader · rank #6
Nowthen · highest
134,491
Nowthen · highest
134,491 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 Raeford 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: 4,545.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Raeford - the verdict
Raeford ranks in the 11th percentile for household income and the 45th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
11th
percentile, household income
36th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
45th
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: Raeford, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 4,545 residents in Raeford, a small town within North Carolina. Households in Raeford report a median income of $43,311 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.7%. Typical homes in Raeford are valued around $177,900, and the median resident age is 36.2 years. Educational attainment runs 20.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 44.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 59 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 743% from five years earlier. Raeford reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1542.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 60.4°F with 48.6 inches of precipitation per year and 2.8 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts North Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). 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 Raeford'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to housing and income to within-city variation to reported crime to schools and households to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Raeford, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Raeford?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 60.4°F, with 48.6 inches of precipitation and 2.8 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for North Carolina is 66.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Raeford?
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.
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Ranlo (4,556 residents, $75,843 income); Holly Ridge (4,532 residents, $106,230 income); Royal Pines (4,528 residents, $105,956 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sellersville, PA (4,545 residents); Moxee, WA (4,545 residents); Glendale, CO (4,546 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Raeford?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
PlainCities matches 12 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Raeford?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1542.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 32% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Total reported rate
1542.5
Violent rate
110.2
Property rate
1432.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
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.
The NCES join finds 11 public schools within the city match. 20.4% 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.
Poverty estimate
17.7%
Bachelor's degree+
20.4%
Matched public schools
11
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +146 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 59 housing units authorized in 2024. 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.
2020 estimate
4,557
2025 estimate
4,703
Period change
+3.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Raeford?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.7%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
79.7%
Work from home
6.8%
Public transit
0.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,544 workers age 16+.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
F
City profile score · Raeford, NC
39/100
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.
Violent crime B-
110 /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.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
17.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$43,311
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Raeford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 68/100 (B-) · 110 /100k
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 35/100 (F) · 20.4%
Poverty rate: 18/100 (F) · 17.7%
Household income: 11/100 (F) · $43,311
Where Raeford sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Raeford'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 - Raeford highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Raeford, NC (this city): home $177,900, crime 1,543/100k
Moxee, WA : home $334,100, crime 542/100k
Glendale, CO : home $398,800, crime 21,674/100k
Ranlo, NC : home $184,500, crime 1,082/100k
Holly Ridge, NC : home $291,100, crime 887/100k
Farmville, NC : home $184,900, crime 3,475/100k
China Grove, NC : home $207,500, crime 1,258/100k
Edenton, NC : home $226,800, crime 2,291/100k
How does Raeford compare to other US cities?
Where Raeford sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income11% higher than other cities
Home value36% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety45% 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, Raeford ranks #48 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 Raeford 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 Raeford near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Raeford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Raeford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#545 of 700
22nd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#403 of 708
43rd percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#184 of 746
75th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#405 of 746
45th 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
11th percentile nationally for median household income · 45th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Raeford's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Raeford'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 Raeford's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$177,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 64% 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
Raeford's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,996 of 15,516
More affordable than 29% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,551 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.1×, Raeford sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,996 of 15,516 and #8,551 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
$43,311Raeford, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Raeford, 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 Raeford, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,545
Median Income
$43,311
Median Home Value
$177,900
Median Age
36.2
Poverty Rate
17.7%
Labor force participation
44.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1542.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
110.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1432.3
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
60.4°F
Annual Precipitation
48.6"
Annual Snowfall
2.8"
Schools
Total Schools
11
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Raeford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,557 residents
2021
4,549 residents
2022
4,542 residents
2023
4,578 residents
2024
4,623 residents
2025
4,703 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
59
housing units authorized
Single-Family
55
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
13
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
7
5
2
$1.4M
2020
5
5
0
$1.2M
2021
16
16
0
$3.8M
2022
15
15
0
$3.8M
2023
31
27
4
$8.1M
2024
59
55
4
$16.4M
Permit volume increased 743% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
79.7%
Carpool
4.5%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
7.2%
Work from Home
6.8%
Other
1.1%
Based on 1,544 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 Raeford. 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 Raeford 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 Raeford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Raeford 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.