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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-TARBORO-NC · Tarboro, NC 10,705 pop · income 19th pct · 14 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 Tarboro
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Tarboro on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mount Airy · lowest
39,873
Mount Airy · lowest
39,873 median HH income
26.4% of the leader · rank #1
Port Huron · near
49,377
Port Huron · near
49,377 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #2
LaBelle · near
49,385
LaBelle · near
49,385 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #3
Tarboro · this city
49,386
Tarboro · this city
49,386 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #4
Klein · near
49,387
Klein · near
49,387 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #5
Campbellsville · near
49,389
Campbellsville · near
49,389 median HH income
32.7% of the leader · rank #6
Summerfield · highest
151,131
Summerfield · highest
151,131 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 Tarboro 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: 10,705.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Tarboro - the verdict
Nationally, Tarboro sits in the 19th percentile for household income and the 12th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
19th
percentile, household income
29th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
12th
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: Tarboro, NC
North Carolina's Tarboro is a small town, with 10,705 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Tarboro brings in $49,386 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.7%. Tarboro's housing stock carries a median value of $155,500, and the median resident age is 48.9 years. Educational attainment runs 25.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 51.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 29 residential building permits were authorized in Tarboro (Building Boom), up 222% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Tarboro's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 3360.8 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). The annual average temperature per NOAA climate normals runs 60.4°F with 47.6 inches of precipitation per year and 4.8 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts North Carolina's average monthly utility costs around $215 (state average). Workers in Tarboro report an average commute of 17.0 minutes, with 78.1% driving alone and 11.7% working from home. 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 Tarboro'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 within-city variation to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to population change to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Tarboro, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What can 14 Census tracts reveal inside Tarboro?
PlainCities matches 14 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.
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 47.6 inches of precipitation and 4.8 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Tarboro?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 17.0 minutes.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Tarboro?
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 Mount Airy (10,631 residents, $39,873 income); Pineville (10,780 residents, $64,257 income); Winterville (10,624 residents, $82,783 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gages Lake, IL (10,706 residents); Van Wert, OH (10,710 residents); Orono, ME (10,699 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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Tarboro?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3360.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 47% higher 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
3360.8
Violent rate
668.5
Property rate
2692.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +292 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 29 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
10,687
2025 estimate
10,979
Period change
+2.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Tarboro?
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 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.1×
Home value
$155,500
Household income
$49,386
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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 8 public schools within the city match. 25.4% 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
19.7%
Bachelor's degree+
25.4%
Matched public schools
8
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
F
City profile score · Tarboro, NC
30/100
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.
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-
25.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$49,386
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
669 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Tarboro profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.4%
Household income: 19/100 (F) · $49,386
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.7%
Violent crime: 7/100 (F) · 669 /100k
Where Tarboro sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Tarboro'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 - Tarboro highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Tarboro, NC (this city): home $155,500, crime 3,361/100k
Van Wert, OH : home $109,700, crime 3,485/100k
Orono, ME : home $219,200, crime 150/100k
Kearney, MO : home $275,200, crime 825/100k
Mount Airy, NC : home $176,600, crime 2,748/100k
Pineville, NC : home $344,700, crime 9,479/100k
Winterville, NC : home $226,600, crime 805/100k
Waynesville, NC : home $254,800, crime 3,311/100k
How does Tarboro compare to other US cities?
Tarboro measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income19% higher than other cities
Home value29% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety12% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at North Carolina, Tarboro ranks #128 of 195 North Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Tarboro 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 Tarboro near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Tarboro ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Tarboro only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#473 of 700
32nd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#463 of 708
34th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#149 of 746
80th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#292 of 746
60th 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
19th percentile nationally for median household income · 12th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Tarboro's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Tarboro'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 Tarboro's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$155,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 71% 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
Tarboro's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,424 of 15,516
More affordable than 52% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,104 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.1×, Tarboro sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,424 of 15,516 and #1,104 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$49,386Tarboro, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Tarboro, 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 Tarboro, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)51.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
10,705
Median Income
$49,386
Median Home Value
$155,500
Median Age
48.9
Poverty Rate
19.7%
Labor force participation
51.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3360.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
668.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2692.3
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
47.6"
Annual Snowfall
4.8"
Schools
Total Schools
8
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Tarboro's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
10,687 residents
2021
10,551 residents
2022
10,737 residents
2023
10,926 residents
2024
10,963 residents
2025
10,979 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
29
housing units authorized
Single-Family
24
detached homes
Multifamily
5
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
9
9
0
$0.8M
2020
22
22
0
$1.8M
2021
130
130
0
$13.6M
2022
66
66
0
$6.4M
2023
37
7
30
$4.1M
2024
29
24
5
$4.5M
Permit volume increased 222% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
17.0 minutes
Drive Alone
78.1%
Carpool
6.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.6%
Work from Home
11.7%
Other
2.6%
Based on 4,343 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 Tarboro. 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 Tarboro 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 Tarboro sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Tarboro 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.