AreaProfile

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Area Profile

210,815 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Fayetteville, in Cumberland County.

50
Area Score
Bottom 8% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity135th of 139 published cities32
Growth130th of 134 published cities14
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 150 published cities80
ClimateTop 39% of 149 published cities73
Physical resilience82nd of 150 published cities52
Access140th of 149 published cities70
Economic stability102nd of 150 published cities49
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.8% and the Opportunity signal places Fayetteville in the bottom 3%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 322 units authorized over the past twelve months, 69% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 50 places Fayetteville in the top 92% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
210,815
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,407
Bottom 36% nationally
Density
1,422/sq mi
148.3 sq mi of land
Median age
30.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Cumberland County
North Carolina
Metro area
Fayetteville, NC
Nearest major airport
RDU
56 mi · Raleigh-Durham Intl
Median home value
$188,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.8% is lower than 40% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.7% over the past year, to 73,086 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,606$58,407Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$667$32,728Bottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.7%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.7 minBottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher29.0%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment73,086Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.9%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.7%Bottom 11%June 2026
Labor force76,752Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force participation66.7%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,170Bottom 7%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,620Bottom 6%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 12%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.8%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/067.94.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.8% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202458k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,407 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 — Fayetteville, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons4,240$30,440
Cooks, Fast Food3,890$23,430
Registered Nurses3,430$83,060
Cashiers3,400$27,390
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,130$28,170
Stockers and Order Fillers3,060$35,000

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 $1,250 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,250
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$188,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.22Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate47.4%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±58591,985Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$17$1,250Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,869$188,000Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.7%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.1%Top 49%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
14/ 100
Ranks 130 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 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 fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 209,496 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
322
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.5
Bottom 19% nationally
Year over year
−69%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024212k209k
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
202020222023202420251k291
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+260%).

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 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.6 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FAYETTEVILLE RGNL AP, 8.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation44.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°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

52 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneElevated
LightningModerate
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LandslideModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 56 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU56 mi10,000 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO79 mi11,498 ft
Wilmington IntlILM83 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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50
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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 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Fayetteville

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2831455,834$62,24950
2830643,042$67,54451
2830437,140$58,56349
2831136,629$62,17051
2830330,965$58,22350