Jacksonville, NC

Metro Area Profile

207,906 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Jacksonville, NC metropolitan area.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 21% of 379 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Data updated · 10 sources
Opportunity280th of 379 metros measured44
GrowthTop 17% of 821 metros measured72
Housing affordability607th of 822 metros measured85
ClimateTop 6% of 822 metros measured80
Physical resilience803rd of 822 metros measured9
Access421st of 822 metros measured76
Economic stabilityTop 24% of 822 metros measured71
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 3.9% and the Opportunity signal places Jacksonville in the bottom 26%.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 1,868 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 33% on the prior year.

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

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
207,906
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$68,148
Top 46% nationally
Density
273/sq mi
762.1 sq mi of land
Median age
27.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Jacksonville, NC
Nearest major airport
ISO
40 mi · Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld
Median home value
$236,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 66% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 1.9% over the past year, to 68,264 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,456$68,148Top 46%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,036$33,305Bottom 35%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.6%Bottom 30%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.0 minBottom 48%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.0%Top 47%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Employment68,264Bottom 26%of 379June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.3%Bottom 8%of 379June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.9%Bottom 20%of 379June 2026
Labor force71,007Bottom 26%of 379June 2026
Labor force participation70.0%Top 3%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$51,170Bottom 5%of 3812025 OEWS
Median annual wage$40,230Bottom 4%of 3812025 OEWS
Metro employment52,570Bottom 19%of 3812025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 28%of 379June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 34%of 379June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.53.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% 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 — Jacksonville, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons2,040$29,480
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,900$27,330
Cooks, Fast Food1,830$22,900
Cashiers1,630$26,380
Stockers and Order Fillers1,330$33,880
Waiters and Waitresses1,140$28,870

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 →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.8, against 100 for the nation. Housing drives most of that difference.

A new two-bedroom lease runs about $1,173, close to the $1,265 tenants already here pay.

Median rent of $1,265 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home at $236,400 costs 3.5 times the median household income of $68,148, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
91.8

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
22.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,173
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,265
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$236,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index91.8Bottom 41%of 3812023
Home price to income3.47Top 40%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.7%Bottom 19%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8887,354Top 25%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroom$935Bottom 27%of 351FY2026
Market rent, three bedroom$1,631Bottom 41%of 351FY2026
Market rent, two bedroom$1,173Bottom 29%of 351FY2026
Median gross rent ±$40$1,265Top 19%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,122$236,400Top 41%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.3%Top 11%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate13.8%Top 34%of 9352024 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
72/ 100
Top 17% of 821 published metro profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2024 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run, not a comparison of the two endpoints.

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 212,954 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 212,954 residents in 2024, up 0.8% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

At 9.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,868
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.0
Top 7% nationally
Year over year
+33%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
23.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024213k204k
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

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 56.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW RIVER MCAF, 7.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND7.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation56.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°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

9 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and lightning, with hurricane alone responsible for 79% of it.

HurricaneHigh
LightningModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

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

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

Some things people look for are not on this page, and each is absent 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
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. Any cities listed on this page carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighborhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld at 40 miles.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO40 mi11,498 ft
Wilmington IntlILM41 mi8,016 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU106 mi10,000 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
56
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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)
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026Annually, each October for the coming fiscal year

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.