Halifax County, NC

County Profile

47,675 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Halifax 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.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,452nd of 1,463 counties measured12
Schools1,306th of 1,377 counties measured11
Growth957th of 1,453 counties measured41
Housing affordability735th of 1,462 counties measured73
ClimateTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured77
Physical resilience948th of 1,463 counties measured48
Access1,160th of 1,463 counties measured64
Economic stability1,408th of 1,463 counties measured16
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Halifax County in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.4 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 1.8 times what its owners earn.

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
47,675
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$45,590
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
66/sq mi
723.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Halifax County
North Carolina
Nearest major airport
ISO
64 mi · Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld
Median home value
$106,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 2.5% over the past year, to 16,626 employed residents.

Median household income of $45,590 is lower than in 91% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$47,78316th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$46,39412th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,9702024 ACS 5-Year$45,590Bottom 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3722024 ACS 5-Year$27,648Bottom 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$47,578Bottom 15%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year22.1%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.7 minBottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.1%Bottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%40th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202616,626Bottom 24%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.4%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.5%Bottom 14%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202617,58624th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.7%Bottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%25th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.5%Bottom 12%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.4%48th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.94.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% 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

202120222023202446k38k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $45,590 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.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher across 22 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
23
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across 22 of them
Math proficiency
26.4%
Bottom 4% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
30.3%
Bottom 4% in North Carolina
The 12 largest of 23 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Roanoke Rapids High SchoolRoanoke Rapids City Schools77616.536%31%
Manning Elementary SchoolRoanoke Rapids City Schools63015.443%39%
Belmont Elementary SchoolRoanoke Rapids City Schools61416.229%26%
Chaloner Middle SchoolRoanoke Rapids City Schools60517.843%41%
Hobgood Charter School · charterHobgood Charter School56913.2——
KIPP Halifax College Preparatory · charterKIPP Halifax College Preparatory52815.519%31%
Northwest Halifax Collegiate and TechnicHalifax County Schools32124.712%27%
Weldon Elementary Global AcademyWeldon City Schools27218.112%17%
Everetts Elementary S.T.E.M. AcademyHalifax County Schools25414.912%22%
William R Davie Middle S.T.E.M. AcademyHalifax County Schools24315.218%27%
Inborden Elementary S.T.E.A.M. AcademyHalifax County Schools22512.522%27%
Southeast Halifax Collegiate Prep AcademHalifax County Schools20410.75%5%

98.9% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of North Carolina is up 57% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $1,216 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.15% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $925, some 14% above the $813 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $925 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,000 a year, about 81% of the median household income here of $45,590.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $813 a month.

A median home at $106,200 costs 1.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $58,923, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$925
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$813
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$106,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Halifax County’s median household income of $45,590, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of North Carolina’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%43rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of North Carolina’s figure2026 Q2+57.2%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of North Carolina’s figure2026 Q2+113.0%81st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.8Top 14%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year62.9%11th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±622024 ACS 5-Year24,87270th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$742Top 12%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,190Top 11%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$925Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$813Top 37%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,7842024 ACS 5-Year$106,20010th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$672024 ACS 5-Year$1,21633rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,0802024 ACS 5-Year$58,923Bottom 14%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year1.15%74th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.7%Bottom 30%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1822024 ACS 5-Year89772nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.4%82nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4232024 ACS 5-Year4,48977th 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.

Development Momentum

41/ 100
Ranks 957 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 fallen 3% since 2020, to 46,992 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 74 units authorized in 2025, up 35% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 98 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Halifax County lost about 0.5% 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 $47,783, close to the $46,394 of households that moved out.

At 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
98
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 38% nationally
Year over year
+31%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202448k47k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
35%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,783
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$46,394
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Northampton County, NC 222 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Nash County, NC 183 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Wake County, NC 115 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  4. Edgecombe County, NC 98 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  5. Warren County, NC 69 people · 4.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Nash County, NC 254 people · 14% of departures
  2. Northampton County, NC 246 people · 13% of departures
  3. Edgecombe County, NC 148 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Wake County, NC 127 people · 6.9% of departures
  5. Warren County, NC 105 people · 5.7% 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

20222023202420257455
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+6%).

Weather & climate

7 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 32°F.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ROANOKE RAPIDS AP, 13.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

MetricValueSource period
Average January low1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

48 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 48% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtModerate
HurricaneElevated
TornadoModerate
Cold waveModerate
Strong windModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, inland flooding, earthquake, hail, ice storm, lightning, wildfire, coastal flooding, avalanche, tsunami, 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.

Halifax County records 21.1 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 27.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.3 per 100,000 residents in Halifax County.

Homicide
21.1
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
27.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
23.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Halifax 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld at 64 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.4%Bottom 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle64 miBottom 18%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year20.6%Bottom 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO64 mi11,498 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU69 mi10,000 ft
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF88 mi8,003 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
41
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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
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 Halifax 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.