Greenville, NC

Metro Area Profile

177,193 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Greenville, NC metropolitan area.

62out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity226th of 379 published metros50
GrowthTop 12% of 821 published metros75
Housing affordability567th of 822 published metros88
ClimateTop 27% of 822 published metros73
Physical resilience603rd of 822 published metros38
AccessTop 26% of 822 published metros89
Economic stability485th of 822 published metros44
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.0% and median household income $58,188, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,769 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 21% on the prior year.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, hurricane and tornado.

At a glance

Population
177,193
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,188
Bottom 22% nationally
Density
272/sq mi
652.4 sq mi of land
Median age
33.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Greenville, NC
Nearest major airport
ISO
22 mi · Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld
Median home value
$208,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0% is lower than 60% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 80,692 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US metros.

Median household income of $58,188 is below 78% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,075$58,188Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,135$34,160Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.8%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.1 minBottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher33.8%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment80,692Bottom 36%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.1%Bottom 31%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 42%June 2026
Labor force84,074Bottom 35%June 2026
Labor force participation62.8%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,770Bottom 49%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,560Bottom 36%2025 OEWS
Metro employment80,770Bottom 39%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 20%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.0%Bottom 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/066.13.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Greenville, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses3,770$81,670
Retail Salespersons2,370$29,250
Cashiers1,870$27,720
Office Clerks, General1,870$41,110
Cooks, Fast Food1,780$23,600
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,770$28,000

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $993 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.6 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$993
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$208,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.59Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate51.4%Bottom 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7582,638Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$21$993Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,837$208,900Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.5%Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate9.8%Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
75/ 100
Top 12% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 180,783 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 10.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,769
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.0
Top 5% nationally
Year over year
+21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
44.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024181k174k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.4 inches, including 3.3 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GREENVILLE, 3.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation53.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

38 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado.

HurricaneElevated
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, lightning, hail, ice storm, drought, earthquake, strong wind, coastal flooding, wildfire, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO22 mi11,498 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU82 mi10,000 ft
Wilmington IntlILM96 mi8,016 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
62
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.