Mebane, North Carolina

Area Profile

19,538 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Mebane, in Orange County.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 37% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 44% of 3,904 cities measured59
Schools1401st of 2,668 cities measured50
GrowthTop 37% of 2,973 cities measured57
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 4,223 cities measured87
ClimateTop 49% of 4,223 cities measured71
Physical resilienceTop 49% of 4,182 cities measured59
Access3222nd of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stabilityTop 33% of 4,226 cities measured68
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.3% and median household income $83,174, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.6 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 257 units authorized over the past twelve months, 45% below the prior year.

At a glance

Population
19,538
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$83,174
Top 31% nationally
Density
1,598/sq mi
12.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Orange County
North Carolina
Metro area
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Nearest major airport
RDU
31 mi · Raleigh-Durham Intl
Median home value
$338,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3% is lower than 89% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 74,925 employed residents.

40% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$10,813$83,174Top 31%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,083$42,148Top 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.2%Bottom 34%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.7 minTop 31%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher40.4%Top 18%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment74,925Top 43%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.8%Bottom 12%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 21%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force77,476Top 43%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation69.3%Top 20%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$79,700Top 18%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$60,720Top 19%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 35%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.3%Bottom 11%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202484k70k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $83,174 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 — Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Software Developers9,790$135,620
Retail Salespersons5,850$31,790
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants5,820$46,860
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,350$29,170
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,250$37,750
Cashiers4,840$29,920

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Orange County, NC, which contains this city.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.6 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
37.3%
Bottom 47% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
49.3%
Top 35% in North Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Eastern Alamance HighAlamance-Burlington Schools95217.0
Hawfields MiddleAlamance-Burlington Schools86419.242%57%
Audrey W. Garrett ElementaryAlamance-Burlington Schools78517.839%52%
Woodlawn MiddleAlamance-Burlington Schools63319.827%37%
South Mebane ElementaryAlamance-Burlington Schools50616.946%47%
E M Yoder ElementaryAlamance-Burlington Schools33613.442%54%
South ElementaryCaswell County Schools23518.117%41%

74.6% 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 $1,283 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,283
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$338,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.07Top 26%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate60.5%Bottom 21%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4688,605Top 7%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$99$1,283Top 29%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,956$338,900Top 24%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.5%Top 50%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.7%Bottom 45%of 32,0012024 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
57/ 100
Top 37% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, 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 grown 13% since 2020, reaching 20,654 in 2024.

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

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

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

At 13.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
257
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
13.2
Top 8% nationally
Year over year
−45%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202421k18k
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
20202022202320242025675275
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2020 (+0%).

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 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.3 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BURLINGTON ALAMANCE AP, 11.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing39°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

59 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

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

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Orange County records 3.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.3 per 100,000 residents in Orange County.

Homicide
3.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
11.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

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 Orange 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 Mebane rather than Mebane 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 and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 31 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU31 mi10,000 ft
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO37 mi10,001 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO107 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
64
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Other cities in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
DurhamDurham County291,46764vs Mebane
Chapel HillOrange County61,60762vs Mebane
CarrboroOrange County21,20463vs Mebane

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Mebane side by side with a similar place.

Mebane vs ColumbusMebane vs CulpeperMebane vs MiddletownMebane vs Toms River

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)
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.

ZIP codes in Mebane

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2730235,418$79,81964