Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetNC-RIVER-BEND-NC · River Bend, NC 2,896 pop · income 47th 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 River Bend
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest River Bend on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
North Browning · lowest
40,813
North Browning · lowest
40,813 median HH income
20.3% of the leader · rank #1
Cherry Creek · near
68,309
Cherry Creek · near
68,309 median HH income
33.9% of the leader · rank #2
West Lawn · near
68,309
West Lawn · near
68,309 median HH income
33.9% of the leader · rank #3
River Bend · this city
68,314
River Bend · this city
68,314 median HH income
33.9% of the leader · rank #4
Imperial · near
68,314
Imperial · near
68,314 median HH income
33.9% of the leader · rank #5
Wixom · near
68,319
Wixom · near
68,319 median HH income
33.9% of the leader · rank #6
Montara · highest
201,367
Montara · highest
201,367 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 River Bend 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: 2,896.
Nationally, River Bend sits in the 47th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
47th
percentile, household income
52nd
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: River Bend, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 2,896 residents in River Bend, a small town within North Carolina. River Bend households earn a median of $68,314 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Home values in River Bend run a median of $233,700, and the median resident age is 52.5 years. 33.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 44.3% 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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,161 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts North Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). 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 River Bend'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 comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For River Bend, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for River Bend?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Fairfield Harbour (2,898 residents, $69,661 income); Lake Junaluska (2,903 residents, $82,115 income); Troy (2,905 residents, $60,167 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Winnebago, IL (2,896 residents); New Hope, AL (2,895 residents); Montara, CA (2,897 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.
Is River Bend growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -4 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.1% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in River Bend?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.8%. 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 River Bend?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, 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.
Below median income · poverty 0.0% (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 · River Bend, NC
68/100
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+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better 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 C+
33.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$68,314
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).
River Bend profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 64/100 (C+) · 33.4%
Household income: 47/100 (D) · $68,314
How does River Bend compare to other US cities?
River Bend measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income47% higher than other cities
Home value52% 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 River Bend 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 River Bend near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, River Bend ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares River Bend only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#247 of 700
65th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#238 of 708
66th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#653 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#203 of 746
73rd 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
47th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How River Bend's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$233,70048th percentilemore affordable than 48% 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
River Bend's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,660 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,020 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.4×, River Bend sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,660 of 15,516 and #7,020 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
$68,314River Bend, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context River Bend, 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 River Bend, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)44.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,896
Median Income
$68,314
Median Home Value
$233,700
Median Age
52.5
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
44.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.4%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
River Bend's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,894 residents
2021
2,870 residents
2022
2,864 residents
2023
2,865 residents
2024
2,876 residents
2025
2,890 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.8%
Carpool
5.7%
Public Transit
4.5%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
2.4%
Other
1.6%
Based on 1,194 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 River Bend. 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 River Bend 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 River Bend sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How River Bend 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.