Robeson County, NC

County Profile

116,902 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Robeson 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.

40out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 1% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1244th of 1,255 counties measured14
Schools964th of 973 counties measured5
GrowthTop 48% of 1,226 counties measured51
Housing affordability769th of 1,255 counties measured89
ClimateTop 27% of 1,254 counties measured74
Physical resilience1083rd of 1,255 counties measured28
Access1030th of 1,255 counties measured62
Economic stability1192nd of 1,255 counties measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Robeson County in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 16% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.6 students for every teacher.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by hurricane, earthquake and strong wind.

At a glance

Population
116,902
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$41,978
Bottom 6% nationally
Density
123/sq mi
947.3 sq mi of land
Median age
36.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Robeson County
North Carolina
Metro area
Lumberton, NC
Nearest major airport
MYR
67 mi · Myrtle Beach Intl
Median home value
$94,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 28% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 2.6% over the past year, to 41,029 employed residents.

Median household income of $41,978 is below 94% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$1,323$41,978Bottom 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$777$23,672Bottom 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income$43,897Bottom 5%of 1,2062023
Poverty rate27.2%Top 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.2 minTop 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher14.7%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment41,029Bottom 49%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-5.1%Bottom 5%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.6%Bottom 12%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force43,102Bottom 49%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation50.9%Bottom 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.8%Bottom 9%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 28%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/068.44.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% 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.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202442k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $41,978 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.

16% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 24% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

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

Public schools
40
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
16.2%
Bottom 1% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
24.3%
Bottom 1% in North Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lumberton Senior HighPublic Schools of Robeson County1,89416.5
Purnell Swett HighPublic Schools of Robeson County1,58318.4
Saint Pauls HighPublic Schools of Robeson County1,14218.1
Red Springs HighPublic Schools of Robeson County86718.1
Fairmont HighPublic Schools of Robeson County78013.4
Magnolia ElementaryPublic Schools of Robeson County77916.612%20%
Prospect ElementaryPublic Schools of Robeson County77514.919%27%
Saint Pauls ElementaryPublic Schools of Robeson County71016.914%22%
Pembroke ElementaryPublic Schools of Robeson County70316.022%27%
Saint Pauls MiddlePublic Schools of Robeson County67818.38%23%
Lumberton JuniorPublic Schools of Robeson County65517.212%22%
Pembroke MiddlePublic Schools of Robeson County64517.411%26%

98.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $805 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.3 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$805
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$94,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.25Bottom 18%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate65.8%Bottom 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7149,111Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$22$805Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,445$94,500Bottom 5%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.0%Top 8%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.2%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 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
51/ 100
Top 48% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2022 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 2% since 2020, reaching 118,624 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

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

At 3.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
385
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.3
Top 45% nationally
Year over year
+6%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
27.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024119k116k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025399233
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+71%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 42.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LUMBERTON MUNI AP, 3.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation42.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing37°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

28 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and strong wind.

Strong windHigh
HurricaneElevated
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate
Ice stormModerate
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, winter weather, heat wave, inland flooding, hail, drought, landslide.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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

Robeson County records 29.0 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 34.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 33.2 per 100,000 residents in Robeson County.

Homicide
29.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
34.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
33.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
8.5
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Robeson County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Robeson County rather than Robeson County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

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
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. 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 individualised 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 neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 67 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Myrtle Beach IntlMYR67 mi9,503 ft
Wilmington IntlILM73 mi8,016 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU87 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
40
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)
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

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.

Cities in Robeson County, NC