Census Tract 9604

Tract Snapshot: Census Tract 9604, Rutherford County, NC

Census Tract 9604 is located in Rutherford County, North Carolina, inside the municipal boundary of Forest City, and contains a population of approximately 3,289 residents per Census ACS 2023 five-year estimates. Median household income here is $75,808 — a figure the Census Bureau classifies as "Near National Median" when compared with the 2023 national median near $77,000. Median gross rent sits at $659 per month, a useful benchmark for renters comparing local housing costs against nearby neighborhoods. Typical owner-occupied homes are valued around $234,300. The tract's poverty rate is 12.3%, measured as the share of residents with income below the federal poverty threshold.

Census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county designed by the U.S. Census Bureau to contain roughly 1,200 to 8,000 residents, with boundaries held stable across decades so researchers can track neighborhoods over time. Tract-level figures from the American Community Survey are five-year rolling averages rather than snapshots — that smoothing reduces year-to-year noise in small areas but also means the numbers you see here describe the period ending in the reference year rather than a single moment. For context, we link back to the parent city and state pages where you can compare this tract against its neighbors.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey 5-Year 2023 · GEOID: 37161960400 · Note: ACS margins of error widen at tract level