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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-WAYNESVILLE-NC · Waynesville, NC 10,408 pop · income 20th pct · 21 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 Waynesville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Waynesville 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
16.6% of the leader · rank #1
Waynesville · this city
50,554
Waynesville · this city
50,554 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #2
Dos Palos · near
50,556
Dos Palos · near
50,556 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #3
Winchester · near
50,556
Winchester · near
50,556 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #4
Canton · near
50,556
Canton · near
50,556 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #5
Chokio · near
50,556
Chokio · near
50,556 median HH income
21.1% of the leader · rank #6
Blackhawk · highest
239,681
Blackhawk · highest
239,681 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 Waynesville 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: 10,408.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Waynesville - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Waynesville places in the 20th percentile for household income and the 13th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
20th
percentile, household income
57th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
13th
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: Waynesville, NC
North Carolina's Waynesville is a small town, with 10,408 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Waynesville households earn a median of $50,554 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 10.3%. Typical homes in Waynesville are valued around $254,800, and the median resident age is 47.4 years. About 31.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 53.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 234 residential building permits were authorized in Waynesville (Slowing), down 9% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Waynesville's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 3310.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, above the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Waynesville's yearly average temperature at 53.2°F with 50.2 inches of precipitation per year and 10.9 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). 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 Waynesville'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to within-city variation to schools and households to climate and hazard context to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Waynesville, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Waynesville?
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 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Waynesville?
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 Rolesville (10,200 residents, $148,250 income); Winterville (10,624 residents, $82,783 income); Mount Airy (10,631 residents, $39,873 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Valley, AL (10,406 residents); Lake Hiawatha, NJ (10,406 residents); Blackhawk, CA (10,404 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Waynesville?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.4%. 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.
What can 21 Census tracts reveal inside Waynesville?
PlainCities matches 21 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 Waynesville?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3310.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 45% 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
3310.8
Violent rate
499.4
Property rate
2811.4
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Waynesville?
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. 31.3% 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
10.3%
Bachelor's degree+
31.3%
Matched public schools
8
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What physical conditions frame life in Waynesville?
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 53.2°F, with 50.2 inches of precipitation and 10.9 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.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
66.7
Annual precipitation
50.2 in
Mean temperature
53.2°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Is Waynesville growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +775 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 234 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
10,231
2025 estimate
11,006
Period change
+7.6%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
F
City profile score · Waynesville, NC
38/100
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+
31.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$50,554
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
499 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Waynesville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 60/100 (C+) · 31.3%
Poverty rate: 38/100 (F) · 10.3%
Household income: 21/100 (F) · $50,554
Violent crime: 16/100 (F) · 499 /100k
Where Waynesville sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Waynesville'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 - Waynesville highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Waynesville, NC (this city): home $254,800, crime 3,311/100k
Valley, AL : home $130,500, crime 4,218/100k
Cadillac, MI : home $117,500, crime 2,928/100k
London, OH : home $194,800, crime 847/100k
Rolesville, NC : home $467,400, crime 471/100k
Winterville, NC : home $226,600, crime 805/100k
Mount Airy, NC : home $176,600, crime 2,748/100k
Tarboro, NC : home $155,500, crime 3,361/100k
Pineville, NC : home $344,700, crime 9,479/100k
How does Waynesville compare to other US cities?
Where Waynesville sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income20% higher than other cities
Home value57% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
Safety13% 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, Waynesville ranks #124 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 Waynesville 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 Waynesville near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Waynesville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Waynesville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#461 of 700
34th percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#214 of 708
70th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#352 of 746
53rd percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#219 of 746
71st 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
20th percentile nationally for median household income · 13th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Waynesville's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Waynesville'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 Waynesville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$254,80043rd percentilemore affordable than 43% 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
Waynesville's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#12,959 of 15,516
More affordable than 16% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,630 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.0×, Waynesville sits in the pressured band:
national rank #12,959 of 15,516 and #2,630 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$50,554Waynesville, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Waynesville, 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 Waynesville, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)31.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
10,408
Median Income
$50,554
Median Home Value
$254,800
Median Age
47.4
Poverty Rate
10.3%
Labor force participation
53.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
31.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3310.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
499.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2811.4
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
53.2°F
Annual Precipitation
50.2"
Annual Snowfall
10.9"
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
Waynesville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
10,231 residents
2021
10,281 residents
2022
10,597 residents
2023
10,638 residents
2024
10,731 residents
2025
11,006 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Slowing
Total Permits (2024)
234
housing units authorized
Single-Family
80
detached homes
Multifamily
154
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
22.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
258
34
224
$21.2M
2020
33
29
4
$7.0M
2021
262
60
202
$49.6M
2022
43
43
0
$17.7M
2023
71
71
0
$14.3M
2024
234
80
154
$42.8M
Permit volume decreased 9% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.4%
Carpool
15.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.3%
Work from Home
12.2%
Based on 4,597 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 Waynesville. 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 Waynesville 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 Waynesville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Waynesville 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.