Population
4,143 residents
Census ACS 2023 — North Carolina
City profile · North Carolina · Census ACS 2023
Population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools for Southport — drawn straight from Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES, HUD and FEMA, refreshed on the 2024–2025 release cycle.
Southport is a city in North Carolina with a population of 4,143 residents based on U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here reaches $82,792 per year, while the poverty rate sits at 2.6%. Typical homes in Southport are valued around $394,900, and the median resident age is 63.0 years. About 34.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 44.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 106 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 66% from five years earlier. FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1157.1 incidents per 1,000 residents, above the national average, indicating elevated public-safety concerns. NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 65.0°F with 54.6 inches of precipitation per year.
On a cost-of-living index where 100 equals the national average, North Carolina registers 94.3 (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,161 per month. Average monthly utility bills run around $215 based on EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 66.7 out of 100 (Moderate).
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, PlainCities renders standardized city-level demographic, income, education, employment, and housing indicators across more than 19,000 incorporated places nationwide. Population counts and median household income figures are sourced directly from Census Table B01003 and B19013 respectively, with poverty rates from B17001 and cost-of-living adjustments from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities (RPP) 2024 release. Every value displayed in this snapshot links back to the official upstream tables and is refreshed on the ACS annual release cadence (typically December of the survey year + 1).
Methodology: city boundaries follow the Census Bureau's place-level geography (incorporated places, census-designated places, and consolidated city-county governments), with FIPS codes ensuring consistent identifiers across decennial and annual surveys. Cost-of-living comparisons use BEA's Regional Price Parities (RPP) indexed to the national average (100), enabling cross-city purchasing-power comparisons. See our methodology page for full source attribution, refresh cadence, and known data quality limitations including margin-of-error disclosure and sample-size thresholds.
Population
4,143 residents
Census ACS 2023 — North Carolina
Median Household Income
$82,792 /yr
Poverty 2.6%
Cost of Living Index
94.3 (US=100)
Near Average — BEA RPP 2024
Where Southport sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure — computed live from Census and FBI data.
Percentiles compare Southport against every US city with at least 1,000 residents. "Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Census ACS S1501 — educational attainment
Census ACS S1701 — poverty status
Census ACS S2301 — share of working-age residents in the labor force
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) — annual residential permits authorized
| Year | Total |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 64 |
| 2020 | 81 |
| 2021 | 78 |
| 2022 | 84 |
| 2023 | 66 |
| 2024 | 106 |
Permit volume increased 66% from 2019 to 2024.
How workers travel to work — Census ACS 2023
Based on 1,525 workers 16 and over.
State-average estimates for North Carolina — EIA 2023 residential energy data
Estimates reflect North Carolina state averages. Actual costs vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
North Carolina state-level data from PlainCost, PlainRent, and PlainHazard
National-average reference values shown when city-level race/ethnicity table is not loaded. Source: Census ACS 5-year, OMB Directive 15 race-and-ethnicity categories.
Census ACS 2023 — population and median income benchmarks
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Southport, NC has a population of 4,143 according to U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates.
The median household income in Southport is $82,792 per year, based on Census ACS 2023 data.
Southport has a cost of living index of 94.3 (U.S. average = 100), rated "Near Average" based on BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 data.
Southport has a total crime rate of 1157.1 per 1,000 residents, which is above the national average. Source: FBI UCR data.
The median home value in Southport is $394,900, according to Census ACS 2023 estimates.
Southport has an average annual temperature of 65.0°F, 54.6 inches of precipitation. Source: NOAA Climate Normals.
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.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.