Brunswick County, NC

County Profile

152,568 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Brunswick County, NC.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

59out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 49% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 43% of 1,463 counties measured58
SchoolsTop 43% of 1,377 counties measured56
GrowthTop 5% of 1,453 counties measured78
Housing affordability1,303rd of 1,462 counties measured55
ClimateTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured83
Physical resilience1,306th of 1,463 counties measured24
AccessTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured88
Economic stability807th of 1,463 counties measured57
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $77,024, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 46% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.6 students for every teacher.

5,059 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
152,568
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$77,024
Top 22% nationally
Density
179/sq mi
850.1 sq mi of land
Median age
56.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Brunswick County
North Carolina
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ILM
25 mi · Wilmington Intl
Median home value
$349,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1%, lower than in 50% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.2% over the past year, to 65,626 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$103,48194th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$71,40079th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,7342024 ACS 5-Year$77,024Top 22%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5052024 ACS 5-Year$45,985Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$62,025Top 32%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.3 minBottom 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year34.7%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.5%30th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202665,626Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.3%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.2%Bottom 18%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202668,45367th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year71.9%Bottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.1%Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.7%86th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.63.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202477k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $77,024 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Wilmington, NC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons6,310$30,790
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,100$27,460
Registered Nurses5,040$80,970
Waiters and Waitresses4,920$30,610
Cashiers4,860$28,520
Cooks, Fast Food3,880$27,500

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.6 students for every full-time teacher across 22 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
22
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
45.8%
Top 35% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
46.9%
Top 38% in North Carolina
The 12 largest of 22 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North Brunswick HighBrunswick County Schools1,62018.243%51%
West Brunswick HighBrunswick County Schools1,46616.553%44%
South Brunswick HighBrunswick County Schools1,15417.254%47%
Classical Charter Schools of Leland · charterClassical Charter Schools of Leland93524.048%63%
Belville ElementaryBrunswick County Schools81215.345%41%
Leland MiddleBrunswick County Schools80617.928%41%
Lincoln ElementaryBrunswick County Schools73815.731%26%
Town Creek ElementaryBrunswick County Schools70215.355%52%
Union ElementaryBrunswick County Schools65416.075%66%
Shallotte MiddleBrunswick County Schools62716.538%42%
Virginia Williamson ElemBrunswick County Schools61016.947%42%
South Brunswick MiddleBrunswick County Schools58516.335%41%

99.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 95.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Wilmington, NC Metro Area is up 60% over five years, and up 3.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,890 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.54% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,426, close to the $1,351 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,426 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $57,000 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $77,024.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,351 a month.

A median home at $349,800 costs 4.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $82,429, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
95.4

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Wilmington, NC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,426
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,351
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$349,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Brunswick County’s median household income of $77,024, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure202395.4Bottom 44%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.7%55th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+59.7%97th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Wilmington, NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+134.0%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year4.2Bottom 9%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year84.6%96th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±982024 ACS 5-Year99,07790th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,301Bottom 21%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,983Bottom 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,426Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$1,351Bottom 11%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,8512024 ACS 5-Year$349,80087th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$422024 ACS 5-Year$1,89061st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,9412024 ACS 5-Year$82,429Top 38%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.54%21st percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.7%Bottom 16%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±8162024 ACS 5-Year21,60999th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year21.8%93rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%45th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,0912024 ACS 5-Year29,95398th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

78/ 100
Top 5% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 21% since 2020, reaching 167,112 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 5,059 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 4% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Brunswick County gained about 5.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $103,481, above the $71,400 of households that moved out.

At 33.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
5,059
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
33.2
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
+3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
4.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024167k138k
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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+5.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
54%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$103,481
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$71,400
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. New Hanover County, NC 2,149 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Wake County, NC 615 people · 4.5% of arrivals
  3. Horry County, SC 356 people · 2.6% of arrivals
  4. Mecklenburg County, NC 345 people · 2.5% of arrivals
  5. Columbus County, NC 220 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. New Hanover County, NC 1,201 people · 17% of departures
  2. Horry County, SC 416 people · 5.7% of departures
  3. Columbus County, NC 323 people · 4.5% of departures
  4. Wake County, NC 285 people · 3.9% of departures
  5. Pender County, NC 197 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420257k4k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−10%).

Weather & climate

8 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 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 60.1 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WILMINGTON INTL AP, 24.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND8.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals60.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

24 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 72% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneHigh
WildfireModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, inland flooding, tornado, heat wave, ice storm, strong wind, cold wave, landslide, drought, hail, tsunami, avalanche, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Brunswick County records 6.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.4 per 100,000 residents in Brunswick County.

Homicide
6.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Brunswick County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is 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. City profiles inside this area 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Wilmington Intl at 25 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year93.3%Top 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle25 miTop 33%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Wilmington IntlILM25 mi8,016 ft
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR47 mi9,503 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO96 mi11,498 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
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Brunswick County, NC

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.