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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-STOKESDALE-NC ยท Stokesdale, NC 5,943 pop ยท income 91st pct
Nearest income peer: Elkridge, MD (+ $23 income $)
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 Stokesdale
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stokesdale on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hamlet ยท lowest
38,500
Hamlet ยท lowest
38,500 median HH income
16.0% of the leader ยท rank #1
Aiea ยท near
135,286
Aiea ยท near
135,286 median HH income
56.3% of the leader ยท rank #2
Frederick ยท near
135,316
Frederick ยท near
135,316 median HH income
56.3% of the leader ยท rank #3
Aptos ยท near
135,349
Aptos ยท near
135,349 median HH income
56.3% of the leader ยท rank #4
Stokesdale ยท this city
135,389
Stokesdale ยท this city
135,389 median HH income
56.4% of the leader ยท rank #5
Elkridge ยท near
135,412
Elkridge ยท near
135,412 median HH income
56.4% of the leader ยท rank #6
Fulton ยท highest
240,219
Fulton ยท highest
240,219 median HH income
100.0% of the leader ยท 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 Stokesdale 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: 5,943.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Stokesdale lands in the 91st percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
91st
percentile, household income
74th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
๐ 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: Stokesdale, NC
North Carolina's Stokesdale is a small town, with 5,943 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $135,389 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.1%. Stokesdale's housing stock carries a median value of $368,600, and the median resident age is 43.0 years. 41.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 62.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: the state registers 94.3 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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). 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 Stokesdale'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 work and mobility to schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Stokesdale, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Stokesdale growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +211 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.6% 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.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Stokesdale?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.7%. 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. 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.
What does the education layer cover for Stokesdale?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 41.0% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Stokesdale?
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.
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Barbecue (5,933 residents, $80,380 income); Hamlet (6,000 residents, $38,500 income); Mocksville (6,001 residents, $55,544 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pass Christian, MS (5,942 residents); St. Johnsbury, VT (5,945 residents); Lucerne Valley, CA (5,946 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.
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.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Stokesdale?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.7ร
Home value
$368,600
Household income
$135,389
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Top-decile income ยท poverty 5.1% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost ยท BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
B+
City profile score ยท Stokesdale, NC
76/100
4 published dimensions ยท 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.
Household income A+
$135,389
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop โฅ1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
41.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B-
94.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 โ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate B-
5.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Stokesdale profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 92/100 (A+) ยท $135,389
Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) ยท 41.0%
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) ยท 94.3 index
Poverty rate: 65/100 (B-) ยท 5.1%
How does Stokesdale compare to other US cities?
Where Stokesdale sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income91% higher than other cities
Home value74% 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 Stokesdale 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 Stokesdale near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stokesdale ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stokesdale only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#18 of 700
97th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#98 of 708
86th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#504 of 746
32nd percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#137 of 746
82nd 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
91st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Stokesdale's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$368,60026th percentilemore affordable than 26% 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 ยท 2023
Stokesdale's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7ร
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0ร
National rank
#5,147 of 15,516
More affordable than 67% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,505 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7ร, Stokesdale sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,147 of 15,516 and #4,505 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value รท median household income for cities with both fields and population โฅ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0โ5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$135,389Stokesdale, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Stokesdale, 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 Stokesdale, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)41.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
5,943
Median Income
$135,389
Median Home Value
$368,600
Median Age
43.0
Poverty Rate
5.1%
Labor force participation
62.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.0%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020โ2025
Stokesdale's Census PEP population estimates, 2020โ2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
5,922 residents
2021
5,936 residents
2022
5,989 residents
2023
6,048 residents
2024
6,100 residents
2025
6,133 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.7%
Carpool
4.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.0%
Work from Home
18.2%
Other
2.3%
Based on 2,876 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 Stokesdale. 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 Stokesdale 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 Stokesdale sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Stokesdale 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, 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.